


The Convict of Beta Traz

by keithpoenewt



Series: Voltron Harry Potter Hogwarts AU [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Eventual Relationships, F/M, Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Harry Potter AU, Hogwarts AU, Hogwarts Third Year, Human Shay (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, M/M, Mild Language, Original Character(s), Orphan Keith (Voltron), POV Lance (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt is Savage, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, friendship goals tbh, he had a rough childhood, it's a long ride from here folks, prolly shoulda mentioned that before but oh well, seriously someone give him a medal, the slippery slope begins for our favorite emo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-03 14:31:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13343211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithpoenewt/pseuds/keithpoenewt
Summary: Our favorite paladins have reached their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but this always means more trouble for them. A recent break-out from the wizard prison, Beta Traz, poses as a threat for Lance and Keith, but they should be safe at school...right?In this addition, Lance and Keith meet some people that are connected to their parents' time at Hogwarts. Will they be friends or foes?





	1. Midnight Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's 13th birthday begins with receiving presents from his friends in the early hours in the morning while finishing up an essay. Why is he doing homework during the summer?
> 
> During the day his siblings pester him (mainly Carlos), but a surprise guest makes an unexpected and slightly worrying appearance...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOK THREE IS HERE!!!!!! And much earlier than I anticipated. Unlike the last book, this book is back to Lance's POV! You'll get to see Keith again in book 4!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> Note from artist:  
> "Hey, sorry about the characters on the cover, I know they don't look good and I should have tried something else :/ "

Cover art below!

 

Lance rubs his eyes and groans to himself, turning to the clock to check the time which reads 1:09 AM. He drops his quill and smiles to himself, realizing it’s an hour past the beginning of his 13th birthday on June 26. Lance looks back at his essay on witch-burning and suddenly loses all motivation to finish it tonight. He told himself he’d get it done at the beginning of the summer so he’d have the rest of it to relax, but that didn’t happen. His family went on a trip to the United States for a few weeks so he wasn’t able to start it. He knew doing it this late could wake the rest of his family, but he didn’t care - one, because Marco’s the only room next to his so waking him up wouldn’t upset Lance and two because it’s his birthday!

Excitement fills him as he puts his paper, ink, and quill away back on his desk. He suddenly can’t wait to enter his third year at Hogwarts. Marco would be entering his fifth year while Hannah and Lucy will be entering their seventh year. Lance is a bit sad Hannah and Lucy would be gone the following year and would rather have it be Marco, but it’s too late for any schemes.

He smiles to himself and thinks about what the rest of today will bring him when they celebrate. Hunk and his family would definitely come over for a potluck dinner. Lance sent an invite to Pidge, but she said her family would still be on vacation, but wished him the best. Lance is still sad at the fact that his mom won’t be here to celebrate, but he reminds himself she sacrificed herself to save him at the hands of Lord Zarkon. He then thinks back to his own encounters with Zarkon during the previous two years - the first one with the Balmera’s Crystal and the second in the Cavern of Mysteries - and feels relieved to have lived long enough to see his 13th birthday.

Lance turns when he notices an odd flapping thing approaching his window, but opens it once he realizes it’s three owls. They enter and he recognizes his own, Blue, and Hunk’s family owl, Vector, but doesn’t know the third one. He looks closer at the third little one and sees brown and white speckled feathers and yellow eyes.

“Rover?” Lance whispers to the owl.

The owl ruffles his wings and headbutts Lance gently.

Lance giggles. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” He removes the package and note from him and sends him back out the window. Lance opens the note and sees a picture of Pidge’s family in Egypt with a letter describing the trip. He sets it aside to read later before opening the package, smiling when he sees a Sneakoscope, which is a type of dark detector that looks like a glass spinning top; it lights up, spins, and whistles if someone is doing something untrustworthy nearby.

He ruffles Vector’s feathers, takes the note from him, and then sends him back out the window. Hunk’s note wishes Lance a happy birthday and says he’s excited to come over for dinner. Lance then removes the package from Blue and sees it’s a present from Slav. He opens it and sees the school book  _ The Monster Book of Monsters _ attached with a note wishing Lance a happy birthday. He looks around disappointed when he doesn’t see anything from Keith, but tells himself that Keith’s foster dad is a jerk and probably didn’t let Keith get anything for Lance

Lastly, also attached to Blue is a letter from Hogwarts requesting that the form attached be signed by a guardian to allow the student to venture into the wizard village of Hogsmeade. Lance smirks to himself, knowing his father, Luis, would let him go since he allowed all of his other siblings to go before him. He falls asleep that night with a huge smile, knowing his birthday tomorrow (well, technically today) will be great.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Lance runs down the stairs into the kitchen where his sister, Isa, has made breakfast. She smiles when she sees Lance. “Oh, Lance! Happy birthday!” She gives him a tight hug and kisses his forehead. “How did you sleep?”

“Pretty good,” Lance replies. “Whatcha makin for-”

“LANCE!” a voice shouts from the living room.

Lance whirls around and yelps when Carlos tackles him to the ground. “OW! CARLOS!”

“Birthday tackles!” he exclaims with Lance pinned down. “You’ll never beat me!”

Lance grumbles from underneath Carlos. “GET OFF YOU FAT OAF!” He tries shoving Carlos off of him, but to no avail. Lance grunts and tries kicking Carlos, but he still doesn’t budge. He huffs in defeat and slumps back on the floor. “Fine…you win.”

Carlos smiles widely at Lance and hops off of him. “That’s what I like to hear!” He extends a hand to help Lance up. “Maybe one day you’ll be close to beating me, but, for now, you’re still the smallest.”

Lance crosses his arms. “I’m the third tallest in the family! I grew out of my school robes!”

Carlos laughs. “Blah blah blah! You’ll always be my-”

“¡Cállate!” Marco yells from the living room. “¡Estoy tratando de ver algo!”

Carlos, Isa, and Lance all exchange annoyed expressions before Lance leads Carlos into the living room where they find Marco watching a teleport of a dangerous escaped convict from Beta Traz. He uses the remote to turn the volume up. A wanted poster flashes on the screen of a woman with short black hair and pointed chin, yelling while being held against a wall so her picture can be taken. “Who’s Krolia Madelina?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out!” Marco yells.

Luis walks in the room and grabs the remote, turning the TV off. “That’s enough of that.”

“Wha-hey! I was watching that! I want to know who Krolia Madelina is!” Marco complains.

“She’s the reason why your mother is dead,” Luis replies curtly. “That’s all I’m saying on the matter, alright?”

Lance, Carlos, and Marco exchange a nervous expression with each other before nodding at their father. They know Rosa McClain’s death is still a sore subject for Luis, but he’s getting better with it. “Dad? Are we in danger?” Lance wonders.

Luis sighs and pulls Lance into a hug. “No, Lance, we are not in danger. The Ministry will catch her and she’ll be put back where she belongs, okay? Don’t fret about it, especially on such a special day!” He pulls away and smiles at Lance. “I think I smelled bacon in the kitchen!”

Lance smiles widely. “YES! Oh, thank you Isa!” He runs over to hug her once she finishes setting the table.

“Aw, you’re welcome, Lance,” she replies with a smile. “I already ate because I have to go meet Pat at the train station. I need everyone to be on their best behavior, okay? No pranks!” She turns and glares at Carlos. “That means you and Ryland!”

“What about me?” Ryland wonders, yawning as he hops from the last stair and leaps into the living room. “Sorry, just woke up.”

“If either you or Carlos prank Pat today, I’ll end the both of you,” Isa threatens, grabbing her wand from the table. “I mean it!” She glares at them one last time before apparating out of the house with a flash.

Carlos and Ryland exchange a confused expression. “I have no idea what she’s talking about!” Ryland exclaims. “She’s gone mad, I tell you.”

“I agree, but she’s been like this since I’ve known her,” Carlos replies.

“As if!” Hannah exclaims, stepping into the room. “You both are idiots and  _ always _ get into trouble! If anyone’s gone mad it’s you two!”

Lance frowns and crosses his arms. “Stop fighting! This is supposed to be a happy day for me!”

Marco rolls his eyes. “Whatever.” He grabs a small plate of food and storms back upstairs, nearly plowing into Lucy.

Lucy blinks in shock before shaking her head and hobbles over to Lance. Ever since she fell off her broom last year, she hasn’t been able to walk properly. Sometimes she needs crutches because the pain is too much to bear, but today seems like one of the days where she can handle it. “Well, he clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” She smiles at Lance. “Happy birthday to my favorite brother!” She gives him a tight hug and kisses his cheek. “Sorry Marco’s being a jerk.”

“It’s fine. He can do whatever he wants,” Lance replies. “I’m just excited for when the Garetts come over with more delicious food!”

Lucy smiles at Lance again. “That’s the spirit.” She turns to Ryland when he walks over to her. “Hi.” Lucy giggles when Ryland pulls her close and kisses her gently on the lips.

“Hey there,” Ryland whispers with a smirk. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Lance gags and turns away. “STOP IT! GROSS!” He glares at them. “You two are worse than Tasha and Hannah!”

Ryland laughs loudly and points at Hannah. “HAH! Lu and I win!”

Hannah sticks her tongue out at him and rolls her eyes. “Whatever! It wasn’t a competition anyway!”

Lance huffs in annoyance and grabs a plate of pancakes and bacon before walking out onto the back porch to sit down. He sighs and pokes at his pancake with his fork, suddenly not hungry anymore. All of his siblings have someone here to hang out with who they care about, but Lance doesn’t have anyone! Well, he has Hunk, but he lives across the street and he’s been on vacation all of June so he doesn’t count.

He misses Keith. If Keith were here, they’d challenge Ryland and Carlos to something stupid then Lucy and Isa would have to yell at them. He chuckles to himself, remembering the Quidditch games they’d play in the backyard with Lance’s siblings and Hunk.

Lance shakes his head, not wanting to make himself sad. He lifts up a piece of bacon and goes to eat it, but stops when he sees something furry run across the yard. “What the-” Lance says to himself as he stands to go investigate. He walks over to the tree and yelps when something pounces on him, knocking him to the ground. “OW! Who the-” He gasps when he comes face-to-face with an orange and black green-eyed cat. “Red?!”

She meows loudly and shakes her front left foot in Lance’s face to show him a piece of parchment tied to it. Lance sits up and unties the paper from her paw, unrolling it to see a note from Keith.

_Lance:_

_I hope this letter finds you…I don’t exactly have an owl to send out, but this is the best I could do. I can no longer stay at the foster home anymore. I somehow used magic in front of the muggle kids and the foster dad’s sister so I had to leave. Please take care of Red for me._

 

_I’ll see you at school…hopefully._

 

_Keith_

 

“Oh no…Keith,” Lance whispers to himself. He scratches Red behind the ears then hoists her up into his arms. “Come on, let’s get you inside.” Lance walks back inside and finds his family still in the living room, but runs into Carlos in the kitchen.

“Why do you have a cat in your arms? Wait…is that Red?” Carlos asks. He sets down his glass of orange juice and strokes Red’s back. She purrs and leaps into his arms. “What the hell is she doing here?”

Lance grimaces and shows Carlos the note from Keith. “We have to find him, Carlos.”

“We have no way of contacting Keith.” Carlos peeks into the living room then back at Lance. “Okay, so, we can’t let anyone know Red is here or else dad and Isa will explode. I’m sure Keith doesn’t want Shiro to get involved otherwise he’d send Red to Shiro. You distract everyone in there, I’ll get her up to your room.”

Lance nods and heads into the living room. “So, is Isa back yet?”

Lucy turns to him and shakes her head no. “I have no idea what’s keeping her. The Garetts will be here soon.” She narrows her eyes at the paper in Lance’s hand. “What’s that?”

Lance quickly shoves the paper in his pocket. “Just a birthday letter from Pidge.”

Ryland raises an eyebrow. “Lance, my dude, you’re one crappy liar.” He smiles smugly, casually putting an arm around Lucy.

Lance crosses his arms. “Why would I lie about a birthday letter? That seems stu-”

Suddenly Isa and Patrick apparate back in the room along with all of Patrick’s bags. He smiles widely at everyone. “Hey everyone!”

Lucy squeals and leaps up from the couch to hug him. “Ahh! You’re here! How’s Romania? How’re the dragons?!”

“How’s Norbert?!” Lance asks with a wide smile.

Patrick laughs and winks at Lance. “Norberta actually!” He moves his shirt collar so it shows his shoulder, revealing a large scar. “Female dragons are much more violent than the males.”

Isa gives his hand a squeeze and kisses his cheek. “Come on, let’s get your stuff up to my room then we’ll get Lance’s party started! The Garetts should be over soon!”

Soon enough, the Garetts arrived and everyone celebrated Lance’s 13th birthday. Before dinner, Lance, Ryland, Carlos, Isa, Patrick, Hannah, and Hunk all got on brooms to play some Quidditch. Ryland and Carlos each declared themselves captains of their own teams while Patrick declared himself the referee. Since they didn’t have enough for two full teams, Lance and Hannah both made themselves Chasers. Ryland chose Isa and Hannah for his team while Carlos picked Lance and Hunk. Isa played as Keeper for Ryland and Hunk played as Keeper for Carlos. Lance expected Patrick to be a bias ref, but he surprisingly was very fair. He called fouls on both teams equally, but Carlos’s team prevailed nonetheless - Hunk truly was an amazing Keeper.

Once they were called in for dinner, Lance opened his present from the Garetts and saw that they bought him a Broomstick Servicing Kit. Lance was very grateful for the gift, but admitted he’d been using Isa’s old broom at school. Luis then brought out a brand-new Nimbus 2001 to which Lance screamed at and hugged his dad tightly.

After dinner once it gets late, the McClains say goodbye to the Garetts and everyone heads to bed. Lance walks to his room and sees Red curled up in a ball on Lance’s bed. He smiles at her and spots the Hogsmeade slip on his desk which had already been signed by Luis.

Lance falls asleep that night with a big smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RED RED RED RED RED RED RED! I love her so much.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section; the artist and I work very hard on this!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	2. Keith's Knight Bus Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Lance heads to Diagon Alley with Isa and Patrick, he finds Keith getting off the Knight Bus! Before he can question Keith, the Minister of Magic quickly sends them into the Leaky Cauldron to meet with him about what happened with Keith. Lance wants to know details, but the Minister refuses to say anything.
> 
> He'll have to ask Keith later when they head home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is here as well!
> 
> Enjoy!

The next morning, Luis has Isa and Patrick take Lance to Diagon Alley to purchase some new school robes for Lance since he’s outgrown his old ones. When they arrive at Diagon Alley, Lance notices the Knight Bus, a hitchhiking service bus for wizards in need (it has beds and such inside for overnight trips), pull up in front of the Leaky Cauldron. He goes to turn back to Isa and Patrick again, but a boy with jet black hair hopping off the Knight Bus catches his attention.

Lance blinks in surprise. “KEITH?!”

The boy’s head snaps over in Lance’s direction and his eyes widen in fear.

“Isa, Patrick, I-I’ll be right back! I’ll meet you in Madam Malkin’s!” Lance exclaims, running over to Keith. He stops in front of him. “Keith, what are you-” Lance gasps once he notices the state of Keith’s clothes. They’re covered in dirt and the pants are torn a bit.

Lance opens his mouth to question Keith again, but someone places their hand on his shoulder. He whirls around and sees Mitch Iverson, the Minister of Magic, standing behind them with a smile on his face. “Lance McClain! What a pleasant surprise! Alright, well, both of you come with me please,” he says as he ushers Lance and Keith into the Leaky Cauldron. They make their way through the main seating area and head up the stairs into an office. Iverson sits behind the desk while Keith and Lance each take a seat in front of him. Keith sets his trunk on the ground next to him.

“Sir, may I ask why we’re here?” Lance asks, shifting in his seat.

“Well, Keith’s here because he used some magic in front of Muggles and you’re here as moral support for him,” Iverson replies. “Now, Keith, I would like to start off by saying I’m relieved you’re okay after this whole endeavor.”

Lance raises his eyebrow in confusion and looks at Keith before turning back to Iverson. Why is he being so nice with Keith? Last time Lance saw Iverson, he was sending Slav to Azkaban and taking Shiro away from Hogwarts.

“The Ministry doesn’t intend on punishing you for inflating Jonathan Jeffcock’s sister because she’s returned to her normal size! The issue has already been taken care of.” He smiles at Keith.

“I didn’t even intend on doing that,” Keith replies. “She just made me so angry…insulting my parents like that.”

Iverson nods. “I completely understand! You’re still learning how to control your magic. Now, I’ve arranged for you to stay in a room here at the Leaky Cauldron until Takashi can come bring you to King’s Cross for the school year.”

“Um! Actually…Keith can come stay with my family,” Lance interjects. “If he wants…”

Keith nods. “I’d prefer that actually! Uh, no offense Mr. Iverson…”

Iverson chuckles. “Nonsense! That’s a much better alternative! You will just head to the train station with the McClains then…I’ll have to send Takashi an owl, but that’ll be easy! Come, I’ll show you both out!” He stands up and leads Keith and Lance to the door after Keith grabs his trunk.

They walk out of the Leaky Cauldron and find Isa and Patrick waiting for them. Iverson waves to Isa and Patrick before walking away towards Gringotts. Isa smiles widely when she sees Keith and hugs him tightly. “Oh, Keith! I’m so happy to see you!” She narrows her eyes at Keith clothes. “Oh, honey, what happened? Here, let me fix it.” She pulls her wand out. “Tergeo!”

Keith’s eyes widen as the dirt/mud from his clothes suddenly shrink and disappear, bringing back the vibrant colors. Next, Isa points her wand at the hole in Keith’s pants and exclaims, “Reparo!” The hole in his pants begin to sew itself shut before blending back into the rest of the stitching as if there wasn’t a hole in the first place. “There! All better!”

Patrick takes Keith’s trunk from him. “I’ll bring this to the car. You take Lance to get fitted for robes, I’ll meet you inside.”

Isa nods and motions for Keith and Lance to follow her inside. Keith browses around while Lance waits to get fitted. Madam Malkin walks out and smiles when she sees Lance and Isa. She’s got a fairly short and stocky build to her. She has short grey hair and purple pointed glasses on her face. “Oh! Hello! What do you need to be fitted for today?” she asks, smiling sweetly.

“New robes for school,” Lance shares. “I’ve outgrown my old ones.”

Malkin nods and hands Isa a parchment of paper to fill out. “Will you fill this out while I measure him?” Isa nods and begins filling out the paper while Malkin starts measuring Lance’s arms, legs, and waist.

Isa finishes filling out the paper as Malkin finishes measuring Lance. She glances at the paper and gasps. “Ah! Yes, Lance McClain! My have you grown since I last saw you!” She smiles at Lance then heads into the back to get the robes.

Keith makes his way over to Lance and smiles at him. “Just think, we used to be the same height!”

“Yep! Now you’re as tiny as Pidge!” Lance smirks. During their first year, Lance was about the same height as Keith and last year he grew a little, but now he’s easily a couple inches taller.

“Whoa! You’re not  _ that _ much taller than me now!” Keith exclaims defensively. He crosses his arms and glares at Lance.

Lance winks at him then turns to Madam Malkin when she returns with new Gryffindor robes for him to try on. “Okay, Lance, I’ll have you go in the changing room right there and try it on then I’ll mend it from there,” she instructs.

Taking the clothes from Malkin, Lance walks into the changing room and quickly takes off his own clothes, then puts on the clothes and robe. He walks out and Malkin motions him to walk over. She takes the robe off and looks at his sweater and pants. “I’ll hem the pants a bit since those are a brand-new pair, but the sweater and shirt look fine.” She helps Lance slip the robe back on. “Ah, yes, that definitely needs to be hemmed.” She claps her hands together then begins marking where things need to be sewn. “I should have them ready within a week or two. Are you still living at the same address?” She looks at Isa.

“Yes,” Isa replies. “May we order a couple more pairs of pants and shirts?”

Malkin nods. “Of course! I’ll check you out up at the front while Lance here changes.”

Lance heads back into the changing room and puts his old clothes back on then brings his new robes out to where Malkin and Isa are. “Hey, Lance, take Keith and find Pat outside, okay? I’ll meet you guys in Flourish and Blotts.”

Keith quickly hurries over. “Wait, I haven’t gotten any money out of my vault yet.”

Isa ruffles Keith’s hair. “Pat took care of it, don’t worry.” She sends them both out and the boys find Pat waiting outside the shop. He smiles when he sees the boys.

“Hey! You two ready to get your school books?” Patrick asks.

Lance nods. “Yep! Let’s go!” He elbows Keith then hurries towards Flourish and Blotts. Lance is relieved to see it not packed with middle-aged wizards waiting in line to speak to Lubos Ito…he still has nightmares about that awful man.

Anyway, Lance pulls out his list of books he needs to get that his siblings don’t have…which is only  _ Unfogging the Future _ since Hannah is also taking Divination. He starts browsing through the books, searching for the Divination book when he notices Keith stop in his tracks. Lance walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Keith, you good?”

“Um…I’m fine,” Keith replies with a shaky voice. “I-I just-”

Lance picks up the book Keith was looking at and narrows his eyes at the picture of a large, menacing black cat on the cover. “What the heck? Why are you looking at a book about death omens?”

“I dunno…” Keith trails off. “I saw something when I left the foster home, but I can’t talk about it now.”

Lance huffs and sets the book back down then grabs Keith’s hand. “Come on, let’s just get your books.” He leads Keith over to where he was looking earlier then he pulls out two of the Divination books they need. They proceed to find and grab the rest of the books Keith needs:  _ The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 _ ,  _ Intermediate Transfiguration _ , and _ The Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts _ .

They finish finding everything, they bring it up to Patrick and Isa, who found them inside. Patrick buys Keith’s books with the money he got from Keith’s vault while Isa buys the book Lance needs. Patrick gives Keith the change and the bag of books.

Once they finish up in Flourish and Blotts, they load up the car, then Isa drives them home. When they get home, Patrick unloads Keith’s stuff from the car and brings it up to Lance’s room while Isa brings the supplies upstairs. The rest of Lance’s family is happy to see Keith there and they spend time chatting with him for a bit, but eventually Lance is able to sneak Keith away up to his room.

“Okay, now, tell me everything that happened,” Lance orders, sitting down on the floor.

Keith nods and sits across from him. “Okay, well, it started when Jonathan had his obnoxious muggle sister over for lunch. He had me serving the food because he wants to make my life a living hell.” He pauses to roll his eyes.

“Did the other kids help serve food?” Lance asks.

Keith shakes his head no. “Like I said: living hell. Anyway, they started talking about the kids and had them share what they wanted to do with their lives and if any of them had been looking at getting adopted. A couple of them had been looked at and were in the process of being adopted, but when the sister asked about me…Jonathan said there was no hope.” He sighs and slouches. “She then proceeded to say it probably had something to do with my parents. She called my parents good-for-nothing-scroungers, making all the other kids laugh at me. I told her to shut up before she’d regret it, but she didn’t back down and proceeded to call me a burden on Jonathan. I got so mad I caused her to start swelling and she began to float like a balloon out of the house. That’s when I ran away.”

“Oh my gosh, Keith! I’m so sorry you had to deal with that horrible woman!” Lance exclaims.

Keith shrugs. “It’s fine. I mean, it was funny to see her get fatter than she already was. I didn’t really care about running away since I planned on doing that for a while now, but what scared me the most was a giant black cat I saw hiding in the bushes before the Knight Bus picked me up. I was probably just seeing things, but it still freaked me out.” He shakes his head. “Never mind that…anything new here?”

Lance chuckles nervously. “Um, well, the woman who betrayed my mother escaped from Beta Traz.”

“What?! Lance where-” Keith starts, but stops when they hear voices in the hallway.

“I’m sorry, but I just don’t see the problem here. How the hell could Krolia Madelina find both boys?” Isa’s voice asks from the other side of the door.

“Sweetie, do you not know the reason why she escaped?” Patrick wonders. “Luis, that madwoman escaped to finish You-Know-Whose original plan.”

Luis sighs. “Patrick’s right. She’s going to try to kill Lance and Keith. I don’t know if sending them to school will be the best thing.”

“Dad, there’s no other place safer than Hogwarts,” Isa replies. “Takashi and Allura won’t let anything happen to them.”

Lance looks at Keith with wide eyes. “She’s gonna kill us?” he asks in a whisper.

Keith pats Lance’s shoulder. “If we can handle Niko Dorra two years in a row…we can handle some crazy lady with a thirst for blood. She doesn’t stand a chance against us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't expect to see chapter 3 for a while since I head back to school on Sunday.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comments; the artist and I work very hard on this!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	3. Dementors and Death Omens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer at Lance's house goes by pretty quickly, but nonetheless that couldn't lessen Lance's excitement to head back to Hogwarts. On the train, he, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge meet the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor...what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER 3!!!! Sorry for the long wait, but at long last it's here!
> 
> Enjoy!

The rest of the summer at Lance’s house seems to fly by fairly quickly. Though, Lance still found himself excited to head to King’s Cross to board the train back to Hogwarts. Surprisingly Marco leaves his room without much of a struggle (maybe it had something to do with Carlos mentioning a pile of snakes he put in the closet). Once everyone collects their things, they find company cars from the Ministry of Magic outside waiting to bring them to King’s Cross. Lance sees Hunk and his parents get inside one and drive off.

Lance and Keith exchange a confused expression before making their way into one of the other two vehicles. Lucy joins them, petting Red who’s in Keith’s arms, while Hannah, Luis, and Marco go in the other car. Lance has no idea why the Ministry is putting so much effort in driving them to the train station, but he isn’t complaining. This special treatment might be unusual so he’s gonna relish in it as long as he can.

The ministry cars drop them off and each of them cross through the divider between platforms nine and ten onto platform nine-and-three-quarters where they can board the Hogwarts Express train to school. Lucy, Hannah, and Marco say goodbye to Luis and board the train, but Luis has Lance and Keith hang back for a second. He takes a knee in front of them. “Okay, now, I want you two to promise me something,” Luis says.

Lance and Keith nod. “Yeah, anything,” Lance replies.

“Promise me you won’t go after Krolia, okay? It’ll only put you two more in danger and will cause more problems for Shiro, the Ministry, and myself,” Luis says.

Lance sighs. “Yeah, dad. We promise. Can we get on the train now?”

Luis smiles and stands up. “Alright, have fun. Study hard.” He kisses Lance’s forehead and ruffles Keith’s hair before leaving.

Keith grabs Lance’s arm and drags him over to where Hunk is waiting so they can get on the train. They meet up with Pidge to look for a compartment to sit in. since all of them are full, they choose to sit in one with a snoozing, shabby-looking man below a briefcase that reads L. R. Isola. Pidge sits next to the man and Keith plops down next to her. Lance sits across from him and Hunk sits across from Pidge and the man.

“L. R. Isola? Who is he?” Hunk wonders.

“He’s the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,” Pidge shares. “Matt says his name is Lotor Isola. Enough about that - Hunk, what the heck are you holding?” She points to the small creature in his arms. Lance jumps, startled when it sticks its head out.

“What the - since when was that in your arms?!” Lance asks, baffled.

“Her name is Sunshine! My mom got it for me since she found out all three of you had pets!” Hunk exclaims.

“Is she a ferret?” Pidge asks, motioning for Hunk to hand Sunshine over. “Whoa this is-”

Red suddenly hisses and claws at Sunshine, causing the ferret to scramble away from Pidge, back into Hunk’s arms. “Hey! Control your cat!” Hunk scolds Keith.

“Tell your ferret to stop annoying my cat!” Keith retorts.

Hunk glares at him. “Sunshine didn’t do anything wrong! I think you should’ve kept Red with the-”

“Guys! Let’s not fight!” Lance exclaims. “Come on, let’s talk about Hogsmeade! Aren’t you all excited to go?”

Someone scoffs from outside the compartment. Lance turns and sees Damien opening the door with Bethany at his side. “I seriously doubt Keith can go to Hogsmeade. He’s got no one to sign that slip of his,” Damien sneers. “I think stupid P-” He freezes and his eyes widen when he sees Lotor. “Um-”

Pidge crosses her arms. “No, go on! Do tell what you have to say to me…I’m sitting on pins and needles just waiting to hear!” She smirks at Damien’s and Bethany’s glare.

“Come on, Damien. They’re just trying to get you in trouble,” Bethany urges, pulling on his sleeve.

Damien nods at her then glares at them before walking away with Bethany. Lance and Pidge exchange a smirk and high five each other. “They’re idiots! We totally-”

Lance jumps, startled when the lights in the compartment flicker off and the train jolts to a stop. Red meows loudly in Keith’s arms and hisses at the window. Lance peers over Hunk and sees frost building up on the window. He opens his mouth to question it, but suddenly gets a sharp pain in his head along with painful, intense, and miserable cold feelings. Pidge whimpers from next to Keith and covers her ears. Keith drops Red onto the floor and she scrambles up to the shelves above their heads.

Ice begins to accumulate on the window and Hunk puts his hand on it to feel it. His eyes widen in fear as he turns to look at his friends. Pidge covers her mouth and points shakily at the compartment door as a billowy shadow slowly approaches. Keith stands up with his wand ready, but Lance shuts his eyes tightly when a loud scream fills his ear.

Lance’s heartbeat quickens as the door clicks open. He opens his eyes to see a tall, robbed creature slowly opening their compartment door. Lance winces and his vision begins to go blurry as he feels something fall into his arms. He looks down and sees a familiar scruff of black hair - Keith must’ve passed out in his arms.

All of the sudden Lotor stands up, pulling his wand out of his robes. He casts something silvery in the direction of the creature, sending it away. Lance’s vision returns and the screams leave his head. He peers over at the window and sees the frost disappear as well. The lights turn back on and the train begins to move once again.

“Hurry, lay him down on the seat,” Lotor instructs. He motions for Hunk to move as he and Pidge lift Keith’s legs onto the seat. Hunk sits down across from Lance where Keith was once sitting. Lance keeps Keith head in his lap, looking up at Lotor for what to do next. He points his wand at Keith, murmurs something, causing Keith to jolt awake.

“What-” He looks up with wide eyes at Lance, trying to figure out what happened. Lance simply smiles down at him and winks playfully.  Keith looks around, realizing where he is and sits up abruptly, cheeks flushed red. He winces and rubs his head. “Ow…what happened?”

“You fainted after seeing a Dementor,” Lotor states simply. “Here, eat this. You’ll feel better.” He hands Keith a piece of what appears to be chocolate. Keith timidly takes it and eats it.

“I’m sorry…did you just say Dementor? What’s that?” Pidge asks.

“The creature that entered the compartment…that’s a Dementor. They’re the guards of Beta Traz,” Lotor explains. “I sent it away with a-”

“Patronus charm, right? I’ve read about those,” Pidge interjects. “They’re a really powerful spell that repels very strong, dark creatures.”

Lotor nods. “Precisely…” He narrows his eyes at her, trying to figure out her name. “Katherine Holt? Matthew Holt’s sister?”

Pidge smiles and nods. “Yes, but everyone calls me Pidge.”

“Ah, yes, he did mention that.” Lotor turns to the rest of them. “That means the rest of you are Keith Kogane, Lance McClain, and Tsuyoshi - er, Hunk Garett.”

Lance smiles widely and nods. “That’s right! How-”

The train’s whistle sounds, signaling they’ve arrived at Hogwarts. Lotor immediately stands up and grabs his luggage from the top shelf. He sets it down on the seat and lifts Red into his arms then hands her to Keith. “I believe she belongs to you.” He smiles at Keith then grabs his luggage to exit the compartment. “I look forward to seeing you four in class!” Lotor waves goodbye and leaves.

Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Keith exchange confused expressions, but exit the train. Outside, they find Allura and Professor Holt, Pidge’s father, waiting. Lotor discusses something with them then leans in to whisper something to Allura, holding her arm gently. He gives her a reassuring smile and her arm a gentle squeeze before making his way towards the castle. Allura turns to them when they approach. Lance notices a faint blush still present on her cheeks, but decides to ignore it.

“Keith! Are you okay? Lotor shared with us what happened on the train. I have no idea why the Dementors were so close to the train…Shiro will not be happy about this,” Allura says, putting her hand on Keith’s forehead.

Lance looks at Pidge when he sees Professor Holt pull her aside to discuss something with her. He gives her a small box before making his way to the castle. Lance wants to ask her what the box is, but decides against it when she secretly slips it in her pocket. When she walks back, he acts like he didn’t see anything.

Allura leads them towards the castle and into the Great Hall. She waves goodbye and makes her way towards the teacher’s table, taking her usual seat beside Matt. Lotor walks and takes a seat next to her, both of them exchanging a smile with each other. Matt holds out his hand to Lotor and they shake hands.

Pidge, Hunk, and Keith say goodbye to Lance and split off to their house tables. Lance walks down the Gryffindor table and finds Delia and Paul. He sits beside Delia and fist bumps Paul from across the table. They chat with each other for a bit until Shiro walks up to the podium to get everyone’s attention.

“Hello students and welcome back to Hogwarts! I hope you all had a relaxing break, but it’s time to get back to work.” Shiro smiles at everyone. “I have a few announcements so I won’t take up all your time. First off, I would like to welcome a new addition to the teaching staff. Please give a round of applause for our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Lotor Isola!” He claps his hands along with the rest of the students and teachers. Lance notices Thace giving Lotor a small glare when he stands up to accept the applause. Once everyone quiets down again, Shiro continues. “I hope you all treat him well.” He flips to another page and sighs. “Next order of business is a new security system the Ministry put in. Dementors will be guarding the entrances and exits to the castle as precautions against Krolia Madelina. They have orders to not attack students, but if you antagonize them…well just don’t. Anyway, I’m looking forward to a lovely school year! Enjoy the feast!”

The students clap once he finishes then the empty plates on the tables suddenly fill with food and Lance finds himself smiling, feeling content with being back at Hogwarts. What could go wrong this year?

 

* * *

 

After breakfast the next morning, Lance and Keith prepare with Hunk and Pidge to head to their first classes. They compare schedules to see who they share a class with. Lance is happy to see he still has Potions with Hunk, but is disappointed when he sees he doesn’t have Transfiguration with Keith anymore. He peeks at Pidge’s schedule for a second, but looks back at it when he sees she has three classes scheduled for nine o’clock. Lance opens his mouth to ask, but stops when he sees Damien deliberately hit Keith’s shoulder with his own to knock his stuff to the ground. Keith sighs and picks it up, ignoring their laughing.

“I see the Dementor screwed with your reflexes,” Damien sneers.

“Need any more chocolate?” Bethany asks with a snicker.

Lance steps in front of them and narrows his eyes. “Piss off, both of you.”

Bethany steps forward and smirks up at Lance. “Oh, come on, Lance. Why be such a buzzkill? We’re just having some fun!” she exclaims. “We - OW!” Bethany shrieks in pain then glares at Pidge. “You little twerp! You kicked me!”

“Yeah! Now beat it!” Pidge yells.

Damien grabs Bethany’s arm and they storm off together. Lance and Pidge high five each other then turn back to Hunk and Keith. “Uh, Pidge? Quick question…how on Earth do you have three classes at nine o’clock?” Hunk wonders, looking at her schedule.

Pidge swiftly snatches it out of his hands and shoves it in her book. “Never mind that, we’re gonna be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts!” She grabs Hunk’s arm and waves to Keith and Lance before hurrying down the hallway.

Lance and Keith exchange a confused expression, but make their way up a long, winding staircase up to the Divination classroom. Lance scrunches his nose at the awful smell of incense filling the room. Keith leads him to an open table in the front of the classroom and takes a seat on one of the open cushions towards the front of the room. Lance looks around the room and observes a similar set up. A table between two cushions for students to sit on. The tables go up at a slight incline so the students in the back will be able to see the professor at the front of the room. Lance spots Delia sitting with Xander Castillo, one of Keith’s other Slytherin friends. She waves to him as Keith takes his seat across from Lance.

Slav enters the room, muttering something under his breath. Keith tries to listen to what he is saying, but only catches a couple words. Something about another reality and someone dying…nothing new. “Okay class! Take a look at the tea leaves in front of you and interpret them for your table partner,” Slav instructs.

Lance smirks and trades cups with Keith. “Okay, Keith, let’s see what we’ve got here.” He peers into the cup and gasps. “Oh no…this doesn’t look good for you. I’m afraid you have…a black blob.”

Keith rolls his eyes, cheeks looking a little pink, but Lance ignores it since the room is a bit warm. “Shut up, Lance.” Keith crosses his arms.

Slav walks over and holds one of his hands out for the cup. “May I take a look?”

Lance exchanges a skeptical look with Keith, but hands the cup to Slav. He looks at it for a moment then gasps. “Keith, dear boy, you have the giant black cat that haunts churchyards! It-it’s an omen - the worst one - of death!”

Keith peers into his cup in Slav’s hand and sees the outline of a vicious-looking cat from the tea leaves. His eyes widen in horror then he collects his things and hurries out of the room. Lance opens his mouth to call after him, but nothing comes out.

Is Keith really going to die?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 isn't written yet so I have no idea when that'll be done.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section. The artist and I work very hard on this!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	4. Care of Magical Creatures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Slav's prediction about Keith, Lance can't seem to get it out of his head. He's unable to pay attention in his next few classes until Allura steps in and assures him there's nothing to worry about. With this news, he's able to enjoy Slav's new class, Care of Magical Creatures. He learns about new animals and even takes one for a spin! What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S LIT FAM! I've begun outlining the next book! I'm super excited for it, but I won't say why!
> 
> Enjoy!

Still unnerved about Slav’s prediction from Divination, Lance walks out of Thace’s classroom and makes his way to Allura’s for Transfiguration. He barely notices Pidge join him until she smacks his arm for ignoring her.

“Lance! What gives?! I’ve been saying your name for the past five minutes,” Pidge complains. “We’re gonna be late!”

Lance shakes his head. “Sorry, Potions class sucked,” he lies. “I’ll tell-”

They walk into the classroom, but don’t see Allura anywhere in sight. Pidge furrows her eyebrows in confusion and looks around. “Where’s Allura? She’s never late.”

“Oh well! This is great news for - AHH!” Lance screams as a white-furred lioness emerges from Allura’s office growling. “THERE’S A LION IN HERE!” He fumbles for his wand, but immediately drops it when he sees Allura standing in front of him with her arms crossed, glaring at him. Lance’s eyes widen in fear. “Oh…h-hello professor.”

“Hello, Lance,” Allura greets curtly. “I think you should take your seat next to Pidge, alright?”

Lance nods and quickly sits down. “Lance, can you tell me what I just transformed from?” Allura wonders.

“A lion?” he answers sheepishly.

Allura chuckles. “Well, yes, but not what I was looking for.” She nods at Pidge when she raises her hand.

“You transformed from your animal form into your human form because you are an Animagus,” Pidge answers. “An Animagus is a witch or wizard who can morph him or herself into an animal at will. It’s a learned skill, not like the hereditary skill of a Metamorphmagus.”

“Precisely! Ten points to Ravenclaw,” Allura says.

Lance looks back down at his Transfiguration book and tunes out Allura’s lecture on Animagi, not being able to focus. Sure, it’s an interesting topic, but he can’t get Slav’s prediction of Keith’s death out of his head. Could this be why Keith keeps seeing that big black cat everywhere? Maybe it has something to do with Krolia Madelina’s escape from Beta Traz.

Pidge elbows him gently, breaking him out of his thoughts when everyone starts packing up. “Come on, Allura let us out early,” she whispers.

Lance immediately stands up and walks over to Allura’s desk. “Uh, professor? May I ask you a question?”

Allura looks up at him. “Why of course! What is on your mind?”

“I had Divination with Keith this morning and Slav saw a death omen in Keith’s cup…” Lance bites his lip and looks at the floor. “He said Keith’s gonna die. Is that true?”

Allura places a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Lance, I assure you Keith will not die. Every year Slav always predicts a student’s death, but none have come true so far. Try not to worry about it, alright? I could tell something was on your mind during class. Usually you are more attentive.” She offers him a kind smile. “Have a good rest of your day, Lance.”

“You too, professor,” Lance replies. “Thank you.” He waves goodbye and walks out the door where he finds Keith waiting for him on a windowsill. Keith smiles brightly when he sees Lance and hops to his feet to quickly join him.

“Hey, what’s up?” Keith wonders.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about what Slav said in Divination so I asked Allura about it and she told me not to worry because nearly all of Slav’s predictions are wrong,” Lance shares. “Well, when it comes to students dying.”

Keith chuckles. “That’s a relief. I wonder why I’ve been seeing that black cat everywhere then.”

“You’re probably just losing your mind,” Lance replies with a smirk. He laughs and dodges Keith’s playful punch as he runs down to where Care of Magical Creatures is being held. Lance waves when he sees Paul, Delia, Xander, and Layla all chatting with each other before hurrying to join them. He loosens his tie and untucks his shirt because it’s pretty hot outside. Keith joins them a few seconds later, slightly panting,

Slav claps his hands together to get the class’s attention. “Hello everyone! Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures. Today we will be learning about a very fascinating animal called the Hippogriff!” He motions for the class to follow him closer to the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. Once they get closer, Lance’s jaw drops down in awe when he catches sight of a large white animal sitting on the ground. It has an eagle’s head, wings, and front talons with a horse’s hind end. “Can anyone tell me what a Hippogriff is?”

Delia raises her hand. “A Hippogriff is a magical creature that has the front of an eagle and the hind of a horse. It’s similar to a Griffin, but instead of a horse rear, it’s a lion’s rear.”

Slav nods. “Correct! Ten points to Gryffindor.” He tosses a small, dead animal into the air and the Hippogriff catches it in his mouth, eating it in one bite. “Now, first thing you have to know about Hippogriffs is that they are proud creatures and are easily offended. Do not ever insult one because it might be the last thing you do. When approaching one, you bow down and wait. You wait for the Hippogriff to make the first move because it is polite. If he bows back, you are allowed to touch him, but if he does not, get away because those talons are very sharp!”

Lance blinks in astonishment at the large creature standing proudly behind Slav. Suddenly Lance regrets taking this class now.

“So. who wants to approach Buckbeak first?” Slav wonders. He looks around the group before his eyes land on Lance. “Ah! Lance! Come on, you will go first.”

Lance bites his lip and goes to protest, but stops when he sees Damien and Bethany whispering with each other and pointing at him. He shoots them a glare then walks up next to Slav. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“That is the spirit! There are several realities where you successfully ride him!” Slav pats him on the back. “Alright, now stand in front of him so he can see you then take a bow.”

Lance gulps and steps in Buckbeak’s line of sight and bows down awkwardly. He stays like that for a few seconds or so until he sees Buckbeak nod down at him. He stands up straight again and slowly walks up to Buckbeak, holding his hand out. Buckbeak presses his head forward against Lance’s hand. “Wow…your feathers are very soft,” Lance comments quietly.

“Excellent Lance! Take him for a ride!” Slav exclaims.

Lance turns and looks at Slav with wide eyes. “I don’t think-” He yelps when Slav lifts him up and sets him on Buckbeak’s back.

“Do not pull too hard on the feathers! Buckbeak will not be happy to have his feathers pulled out!” Slav exclaims, slapping Buckbeak’s behind to get him going.

Lance screams and clings onto Buckbeak’s neck as he reels back and runs in a circle before taking off. He looks down at the ground to see the kids looking up in awe at him. Lance looks back forward and his eyes widen in awe when Buckbeak soars over the Great Lake.

The sun shimmers across the water’s surface and sparkles as Buckbeak flies across it. Once he feels safe enough, Lance situates himself and slowly loosens his grip on Buckbeak’s neck. He smiles widely and laughs loudly as he extends his arms out, robe billowing out behind him and the wind blowing through his hair. He looks out at the castle ahead of him and grins at the sun starting to set behind it. This is a truly beautiful place.

Lance cheers loudly as Buckbeak flies closer to the water, skimming his talon across the lake surface before flying back towards Slav and the rest of the class. He lands on the ground and hops off of Buckbeak’s back. The class cheers loudly for him and Lance gives Buckbeak one last pat before making his way back over to Paul, Delia, and Keith. Both Paul and Delia congratulate him and tell him how cool he looked, but Keith refuses to look at him. Lance sees that his cheeks are flushed red, but before he can question it, Damien storms over to Buckbeak.

“Oh, come on! It’s not like it’s hard to ride some dumb beast like this!” Damien exclaims.

“Damien, no!” Slav exclaims.

Buckbeak roars loudly in irritation and kicks back onto his hind legs. Damien’s eyes widen in fear and he tries to back up, but he falls onto the ground. Buckbeak slashes down on Damien, cutting a deep gash into Damien’s shoulder. He roars loudly and leans back to attack again, but Lance quickly steps in and grabs Damien’s good arm and pulls him to his feet while Slav holds Buckback back. Lance sees his friends cover their mouths in shock as Damien holds his hurt arm, crying. He doesn’t notice Lance helping keep him steady until Bethany pushes Lance away to assist Damien herself, but since she’s too weak, he falls to the ground.

Slav quickly lifts Damien into his arms and looks at the class. “Uh…class dismissed!” He begins walking Damien towards the castle. Since Slav now teaches Care of Magical Creatures, Shiro and Allura hired a new school nurse, Colleen Holt, Pidge’s and Matt’s mother. Lance hasn’t met her yet, but if she’s as kind as her husband, he’ll like her a lot.

Lance walks with Delia and Paul back up into the castle while Keith talks quietly with Layla and Xander. He finds himself feeling a bit jealous and angry that Keith’s talking to them about something over Lance. What could be so important that they’re discussing? Why can’t he know?

Delia elbows him lightly. “If you keep glowering at him, you’ll drill a hole right through his head. Come on, Lance. Let’s head back to the dormitory, okay?”

Lance tears his gaze away from Keith just as they make eye contact with each other. “Alright,” Lance says. “Besides, I really need to start this stupid Potions essay.” Delia leads him and Paul to the Gryffindor common room where they claim one of the tables to start their work. Delia starts working on one of the Charms assignments Professor Holt assigned them. Surprisingly Delia is much better at Charms than anyone in their class - even Pidge and Keith who are naturally talented at just about every class. Meanwhile Paul struggles to finish his Herbology report. Lance has suggested many times for him to just go see Coran to get some help, but Paul’s giant ego always gets in the way. Hunk tries to help Paul out too since he’s very good at Herbology as well, but Paul never accepts any help.

Suddenly something brushes up against Lance’s foot causing him to jump. He sets his quill down and looks under their table to see Red nuzzling her head against his leg. “Oh, why hello there, pretty lady,” Lance coos as he gets off his chair to pick her up.

Delia furrows her eyebrows in confusion at Lance, but chuckles when he comes back up with Red in his arms. “This must be Red,” she comments. “What’s she doing here?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Lance replies, scratching Red behind the ears. “She always wanders around the castle.”

Delia pulls something off her foot. “There’s a note. Does Keith not know how to use an owl?”

Lance shrugs, trading Delia Red for the note. “Red knows her way around so it’s probably just easier for him.” He unrolls the note which simply says for Lance to meet Keith in Matt’s office with the cloak. Lance groans. “I gotta go.”

“What? Why?” Paul wonders, looking up from his paper.

“Keith wants to meet me somewhere,” Lance replies. “I’ll see you two tomorrow.” He quickly packs up his Potions essay. He’ll have to do it tomorrow sometime. Lance starts walking to the stairwell, but stops when Delia calls his name.

“What do I do with her?” she wonders.

“You can set her down,” Lance answers. “She’ll find her way back.” Lance runs up to his room and sets his potions stuff on his bed before rummaging around his trunk for the invisibility cloak. Once he has it, he puts it over himself and quietly makes his way down the stairs and over to the exit. He crawls through then quickly runs through the halls to Matt’s office where he finds Keith waiting outside. Lance lifts the cloak off his head and shoots Keith a smile. “Hey what’s-”

Keith shushes him and quickly puts the cloak over himself too as more voices round the corner. Lance opens his mouth to question it, but stops when he hears Bethany’s nasally voice ring throughout the corridor.

“I know right!” she suddenly exclaims. “Damien said it was a serious gash, but he’ll pull through. He’s so tough! You know, after this whole thing, I think I can get my dad and Damien’s dad to fire Slav once and for all. We don’t need that crazy…whatever he is hanging around the school.”

Lance glares at her as she and her two stupid friends walk past them and turn down another corner. He turns to Keith. “They’re planning to get Slav fired?!” he demands.

Keith nods. “We have to go warn Slav so he can tell Shiro no harm was meant.”

“Let’s go,” Lance says, leading them outside the school and down to Slav’s hut. They arrive at the door and knock, removing the cloak from their heads.

The door opens to reveal a teary-eyed Slav. He frowns at them. “What are you two doing here?! You should not be wandering the castle at night!”

“We were just here to warn you about something,” Lance says.

Slav shakes his head no. “I am not in the mood. Come on, I am taking you back inside the castle…now.” He stumbles slightly stepping outside of his hut, probably drunk.

Keith and Lance exchange a confused expression. What made Slav so upset?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still trying to figure out who should be the "Victor Krum" of the next book so if anyone has any ideas, feel free to comment them! xD
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section! The artist and I work very hard on this!  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	5. Riddikulus Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the day everyone's been waiting for...Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lance and Keith have heard so much about Lotor's class and now they finally can see how great of a teacher he actually is.
> 
> Quidditch tryouts also come up towards the end of the month and, well, someone surprising tries out for Gryffindor's team. Will they take Lance's spot?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm flying through this book because I really wanna get to the fourth one lol. Thank you for everyone's suggestions on who Krum should be - I picked someone to be him and I can't wait for you all to see!
> 
> Check out some fanart of Blue and Red (mostly Red lol) drawn by [midnight-birch](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/):  
> [x](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/post/169756873877/blue-is-looking-for-red-she-glows-waiting-for), [x](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/post/169703067192/red-is-looking-for-her-keef), [x](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/post/169679991102/red-is-so-much-fun-to-draw-i-just-cant-help), [x](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/post/169674528727/red-misses-her-owl-friend), [x](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/post/169662839252/this-is-red-she-is-a-good-cat%22), [x](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/post/169672454542/oh-look-its-keith-and-red-such-a-big-kitty), [x](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/post/169666109697/i-love-to-draw-red-and-red-likes-to-lounge-on-the), [x](https://midnight-birch.tumblr.com/post/169663076292/this-is-red-i-love-her)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Lance idly taps his foot while he waits for Keith to finish talking about something with Professor Holt before they make their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Keith finally walks out of the classroom, waving to Professor Holt and rejoins Lance. “What did you talk with him about?” Lance wonders.

“Oh, I’m supposed to help tutor a first year and he was just telling me when I’d have to meet with her,” Keith replies. “Anyway, that’s not what I was gonna tell you. Damien came back to class today.”

Lance’s eyes widen. “What?! Really?! During which class?”

“Potions,” Keith replies. “His arm’s in a sling so he just sat idly around while other students did his cutting and mixing for him.” They make their way down the corridor to Lotor’s classroom. “Obviously Thace didn’t care since Damien’s his favorite. Instead of trying to learn from the classmates doing his work, he spent most of the time gossiping with Bethany and his other stupid friends about his father and Bethany’s father influencing Slav’s job status. They’re gonna get him fired, Lance.”

Lance shakes his head. “I hate them so much. Anything else happen?”

“Well, Damien did make a comment that confused me,” Keith shares. “He said he wants revenge on Krolia Madelina, but I have no idea why. Anyway, then Thace picked on Xander because he confused his potion instructions then yelled at Pidge for trying to help him.” He opens the door to Lotor’s classroom and lets Lance in first.

“No surprise there,” Lance replies. “Thace hates Pidge because she’s smarter than anyone in his house.” He winces and looks at Keith. “I mean-”

Keith chuckles. “It’s okay, Lance. I know Pidge is smarter than me…everyone does. I - where are the desks?”

Lance turns back around and sees the center of the room has been cleared out from all the desks and a single wardrobe stands at the front of the room where Lotor’s desk would typically be. The rest of the students file into the room and they murmur in confusion. Lance looks up where Lotor’s office is and sees him walking down the steps. “Hello class! Today we’ll be learning how to combat a Boggart. Can anyone tell me what that creature is?”

Keith raises his hand and Lotor nods at him. “It’s a shapeshifting monster that turns itself into the caster’s worst fear.”

“Excellent! Ten points to Slytherin,” Lotor rewards. “Now, who would like to step up first?” No one volunteers, instead they look around at one another to see if anyone offers to go first. Lance looks to his left when he hears Xander sigh and step forward.

“I’ll go,” he says solemnly.

“Wonderful, Xander! Now, step in front of the wardrobe here,” Lotor directs him. “Alright, wand at the ready.” He walks over to the wardrobe and opens it up.

Thace emerges and glowers at Xander. “Xander Castillo? What on earth are you doing here at this school? You’ll never live up to your brother’s legacy nor your twin’s natural skill at magic!”

Lance winces at the harsh words and sees Xander cowering back in fear. Lotor walks up next to Xander and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Aim your wand and shout,  _ Riddikulus _ .”

Xander gulps and nods, shakily raising his wand at Thace. “Riddikulus!” A small spark comes from the tip of his wand. Thace stumbles back and his eyes widen when he suddenly begins to shrink down. Within seconds he’s now about four inches tall on the ground, waving his fist in anger. He’s probably shouting things, but no one can hear him. The class erupts in laughter as Lotor applauds Xander.

“Wonderful! Alright, form a line!” Lotor exclaims.

Everyone runs to get in line behind Xander. Layla, Paul, Delia, Lance, and Keith are a few behind Xander as he walks back to join them. Layla whispers something into his ear then pulls him in for a short hug.

Delia gets to the front of the classroom and the boggart slowly shifts into a large bear. She yelps and jumps back from it, eyes wide with fear. Delia takes a shaky breath and raises her wand. “Riddikulus!” The bear shifts into a small, fuzzy teddy bear and she smiles at it, turning away.

Lance watches as Paul goes next, his turning into his father, but he quickly does the spell that turns him into a plain mannequin. He tries to get Paul’s attention afterwards, but he ignores Lance. He’ll have to ask Paul about that later. Layla steps up next and the mannequin turns into a large serpent, but with one flick of her wand it turns into a jack-in-the-box. Lance gives her a high five as he steps up to the boggart. He steps back as the boggart turns into a large spider, one that resembles Aragog. Lance lifts his wand and shouts, “Riddikulus!” Roller skates suddenly appear on the spider and it begins to flail around on the ground.

Keith offers Lance a high five as he goes to join the rest of their friends. Lance watches as Keith steps up to the boggart. Lotor’s eyes suddenly widen in fear. “No!” he exclaims, jumping in front of Keith.

The spider shifts into a glowing white orb, but can’t get a good look at it because Lotor has already said the spell and changed it into a balloon, causing it to fly back into the wardrobe. He turns back to the class. “Excellent lesson today! Class dismissed!”

Lance exchanges a confused expression with Keith as they walk out of the classroom together. Why wouldn’t Lotor let Keith take his turn with the boggart? Nonetheless, from then on Defense Against the Dark Arts becomes everyone’s favorite class. Hunk and Pidge rave about Lotor’s excellent teaching style and knowledge of the Dark Arts. Damien and Bethany, on the other hand, complain and mock the shabby state of Lotor’s robes.

(Lance thinks they’re just sour they’re unable to persuade Lotor into letting them get good grades like they are with Thace).

 

* * *

 

The following weekend, Lance heads out with Hannah onto the Quidditch pitch for tryouts. She and Stella Alamilla, the Slytherin captain, made arrangements to have tryouts on the same day again since it benefited both teams last year, Lance arrives at the pitch and he and Hannah are greeted by Brooklyn and Timothy, the two Chasers on the team from last year. “I’m so excited for tryouts!” Brooklyn exclaims with a huge smile. “We’ve got a great group today.”

Lance looks over, but doesn’t recognize many faces. He sees a couple from his class, but no one he talks to on a regular basis. Suddenly he freezes in his tracks and his jaw drops down. Hannah notices and turns to look at him. “Lance, what’s wrong?”

“I - wha - Marco?!” Lance demands, getting the attention of his older brother. “I thought you wanted no part of this!” He storms up to him and crosses his arms.

Marco smiles smugly at Lance. “I thought I’d give it a whirl. If you can do it, what makes it so difficult?”

Lance opens his mouth to retort, but Hannah steps between them. “That’s enough. Keep arguing and I’ll send you both away, got it?” She claps her hands together. “I talked to Stella Alamilla and she agreed to hold her tryouts today as well. This means we will be having tryouts with the Slytherin team.” Some people groan, but quiet down when Hannah glares at them. “I know we have a huge rivalry with them, but we found out last year that it really helped out both teams and I wanted to keep that going. Now, please split up by position. Chasers please go stand by Brooklyn and Timothy, Beaters you can stay right here. Keepers stand over there and Seekers stand over there.” Hannah points where everyone goes just as the Slytherin group walks out.

Stella Alamilla walks out with her arm around Keith’s shoulders, laughing at something. Keith gives her a glare and shoves her away, trying not to smile. When he sees Lance, he waves and hurries over. “Hey! How-” He stops talking and his eyes widen slightly. “Marco is trying out?”

Lance rolls his eyes and nods. “Yeah, but I doubt Hannah will put him on the team. He’s too full of himself. At the very least he’ll be a sub.” He smiles and waves at Reyna McGivney when she arrives. “Hi Reyna!”

She smiles at Lance. “Hi Lance. I saw your sister with my brother up in the stands watching.” She points up to where the crowd usually sits and, sure enough, Lance sees Ryland and Lucy sitting together. He feels a twinge of guilt in his stomach. Lucy should be out here running tryouts with Hannah. If she hadn’t gotten hurt, she’d definitely be the team captain over Hannah. As much as Lance loves Hannah, Lucy makes a better leader.

Stella claps her hands together to get the attention of the Slytherin team. “Okay! I need the Chasers and Keepers to follow me over here. Beaters and Seekers stay here with Hannah. For warm ups, we’ll be combined then we’ll split up for the actual tryouts.” She nods at Hannah then walks away with both groups of Slytherin and Gryffindor Chasers and Keepers. He sees Brooklyn and Timothy join up with Reyna and they immediately start chatting with each other. Lance and Damien exchange a glare with each other when he sees him go with the Chasers.

Lance really hopes he gets cut this year.

Keith elbows him, breaking him out of his thoughts as Hannah starts talking again. “Alright, I want groups of four or five to be formed and spread out in the air to warm up hitting around a Bludger. Seekers, take a few laps around then join a Beater group so they can practice trying to hit you. Do NOT go full force! This is warm up and I don’t want anyone getting seriously injured right now,” Hannah instructs.

Lance waves goodbye to Keith as he boards his broom to take some laps around the pitch. Sophia Barre, Slytherin’s current Beater, walks over to Lance and Hannah. “Mind if I join your group?” she asks.

“Not at all,” Hannah replies as she releases several Bludgers into the air. Another person named Alan Goodman from Slytherin joins their group and they warm up together. Lance smiles to himself having missed doing this as he boards his broom and soars into the air. Sophia, Hannah, and Alan join shortly after and they begin hitting the Bludger to each other.

Eventually Keith pops in and offers to be their Seeker that they have to try and hit. Honestly, it’s not really fair in Lance’s opinion because Keith’s an insanely talented flyer, but he doesn’t protest. It’ll be good practice for the real deal and, who knows, maybe Lance  _ will _ hit Keith!

Lance never does get the chance to hit Keith with a Bludger because Hannah and Stella call everyone back to the center. “Okay, I’m going to work with the Chasers and Keepers first while Stella here works with the Beaters and Seekers. Gryffindor Chasers and Keepers, meet me at the far goalpost and the rest of you can wait and watch from the side until it’s time to switch, alright?” Hannah nods and leads the Gryffindor players over to the far posts. Lance follows, but sticks back a bit so he can watch the Slytherin Beaters and Seekers (basically Keith) work.

The Beaters try their best to hit Keith, but most of them barely even hit the ball in Keith’s direction - except for Sophia Barre of course. The other players who wish to be the Slytherin Seeker easily get hit since they probably have no idea what they’re doing. Lance suddenly jerks his head in Keith’s direction when he hears him yell. It looks like someone managed to hit him in the arm - and it wasn’t Sophia! The person who hit Keith was the seventh year Lance warmed up with named Alan Goodman. Lance notices Stella nod and write something down on a little notepad she has.

This goes on for about thirty more minutes before Stella and Hannah switch. Hannah waves Lance back over and has Brooklyn take notes for her since she’s Hannah’s unofficial  _ co-captain _ . Lance would be sour about it, but Brooklyn’s been on the team since she was a second-year so he can’t really complain right now. Brooklyn runs the tryout session similar to what Stella did, except this time the prospecting Gryffindor Seekers seem to be more difficult to hit - not for Lance or Hannah of course since they’re already on the team.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lance sees Keith watching them and he decides to put on a little show. Instead of hitting the Bludger with a forward swing, like the Seeker probably expects Lance to, he hits it with a backhand swing and nearly knocks him off his broom. Hannah flies by and gives Lance a high five. “Nice backbeat, bro!” She circles around and aims perfectly at a short fourth year wannabe Seeker named Shannon Park, expecting to hit her, but Shannon easily evades in a Keith-esque manner. Lance quirks an eyebrow and sees Brooklyn nodding, writing it down. Could this be the year Gryffindor has a better Seeker than Slytherin?

 

* * *

 

Halloween nears, signaling the first visit to Hogsmeade and Lance knows Keith’s still upset about not being able to go. As Pidge and Hunk put their coats on to stay warm during the walk over, Keith sulks on a bench nearby. Lance turns to Pidge and Hunk. “I think I’m gonna stick back with Keith. I have an essay to finish anyway,” he decides.

“What? No! Come on, Lance!” Pidge complains. “Keith’ll be fine!”

Lance chuckles. “You’ll have fun without me.”

“We’ll bring you both back some candy!” Hunk exclaims. He waves goodbye then turns to Pidge. “You need to keep your stupid owl in check! He attacked Sunshine last night! Rover and Red need to cut it out!”

“Maybe you keep your rodent away from my owl!” Pidge retorts as they head outside.

Lance chuckles and rolls his eyes before turning back to find Lotor talking to Keith. He notices Lance looking at them and waves him over. “Hello Lance. Why aren’t you heading to Hogsmeade?”

“I have an essay to finish for Potions,” Lance replies. “Thace likes making my life difficult and void of fun.”

Lotor chuckles. “Well, that’s most unfortunate. Would you like to come to my office for tea as well? I heard about Keith’s predicament so I invited him.”

Lance nods. “Sure!” He and Keith follow Lotor to his classroom where the desks have been put back in their normal spots and the wardrobe back up against the wall. Lotor leads them up the stairs to his office and begins brewing some tea.

“Professor? I - something’s been bothering me since our last class with you,” Keith says as he sits down. “Why wouldn’t you let me face the Boggart?”

Lotor stops pouring the water. “I didn’t want Lord Zarkon to appear in the classroom,” he answers honestly. “I wanted to step in before Lance went up, but the boggart already turned into a spider before I could do anything.”

Lance shivers. “I hate spiders.”

“Actually, I was more concerned about the Dementors. They did make me faint on the train and they’re really creepy.”

Lotor walks over with the kettle and pours Lance and Keith each a cup. “That suggests that what you fear most of all is fear itself…very wise of you, Keith. I wonder-”

Suddenly the door opens and Thace walks in with a steaming goblet in his hand. He promptly sets it down on Lotor’s desk and crosses his arms. “Oh, yes, thank you Thace,” Lotor says, picking up the goblet.

Thace mumbles in response, narrows his eyes at Lance, then, with one swish of his robes, strolls out of the room. Lance and Keith exchange confused expressions then look back at Lotor. “Um, what was that?” Lance wonders.

“Oh, I’ve been feeling a little under the weather so I asked Thace to make a potion so I’d feel better,” Lotor responds. He takes a sip from the goblet and winces as he swallows. He grimaces then takes another sip.

“Sir, if it doesn’t taste good then you shouldn’t drink it,” Keith says slowly. “How do you even know what’s in there? He could’ve put anything in that drink.”

Lance nods at Keith. Thace has been wanting the job as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. What better way to get it than by poisoning the current professor!

Wait a minute…

Lotor shakes his head no. “Honestly, it’s nothing that should concern you.” He looks at the time and gasps. “Oh! It’s nearly time for the Halloween feast! You should make your way to the Great Hall.”

Keith and Lance stand up, but stop on their way to the door when they notice Lotor isn’t following. “Aren’t you coming?” Lance wonders.

“No, I have to finish grading some papers,” he replies. “Have a good night you two!” He waves goodbye and Keith and Lance walk out of his office to find Hunk and Pidge coming back from Hogsmeade. They each hand Lance and Keith a bag of candy they bought for them from Honeydukes.

Lance and Keith fill Pidge and Hunk in what they learned from Lotor about not letting Keith face the boggart and what Thace gave him. “Wow…would Thace stoop that low?” Pidge wonders.

“I doubt it,” Hunk replies. “Anyway, we can worry about that later. Quidditch results are posted! I heard some people talking about it at the Leaky Cauldron!”

The four of them quickly run to the Great Hall where the teams are posted right outside the door. Lance quickly finds the Gryffindor sheet and smiles to himself when he sees his name underneath Hannah’s in the Beater section.

Lance isn’t surprised to see Finn’s name underneath the Keeper spot. His tryouts went amazingly last year, but they already had a Keeper so they kept Finn as a sub, making sure to tell him to try out the following year. The name that does surprise him is seeing Marco’s. Much to Lance’s disliking, Marco is actually a very talented player all around, but he thrives as a Chaser.

Suddenly Keith gasps from next to him and he jabs the parchment on the wall. “No way! What the hell was Stella thinking?!” Keith demands, Lance walks over to him and looks over his shoulder to see Keith pointing at Damien’s name on the roster.

Lance pats Keith on the back. “Sorry man, but you trust her judgement, right?”

Keith sighs. “I trust her with my life, but Damien? I don’t trust that wombat for a second.” He crosses his arms. “He’s gonna make my life a living hell.”

“I’m gonna enjoy hitting Bludgers at him,” Lance comments, making Keith smiles.

Hunk gasps and points at the Hufflepuff roster. “Oh my gosh! Rax didn’t make the team!” Lance and Keith quickly go over to him and their eyes widen when they see someone named Rolo Dawson has replaced Rax as Seeker. “Shay is  _ not _ going to believe this!”

Pidge sighs and looks at the ground. “Of course I didn’t make the team again. I so thought I did well this year too! Joshua Carlson even complimented me on my flying!” she exclaims. Lance steps next to her to look at the roster. His eyebrows raise when he sees that Macy is captain over Tasha. She can’t be happy about that.

Lance’s gaze lingers on the name Nyma Valentina. She’s a sweet Ravenclaw girl who Coran assigned to help him with Herbology. After a few more seconds, he looks back at Pidge. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why Macy and Tasha wouldn’t pick you.”

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. I’m not gonna stop trying though. Even if it takes me until I’m a seventh year, I won’t stop.”

“That’s the spirit, Pidge!” Keith exclaims, patting her on the back. “Come on, the Halloween feast will make you feel better.” He motions for Lance, Hunk, and Pidge to follow him into the Great Hall. Once inside, Lance waves goodbye to them and goes to join Delia and Paul where they’re sitting.

Dinner includes a fabulous turkey with plenty of stuffing along with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, stew, and, for dessert, pumpkin pie! Lance, Delia, and Paul talk about the Quidditch roster and they ask Lance’s opinion on how the team looks. Lance shares that they have a great chance at beating Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup because of their new Seeker. Lance shares that she’s got Keith’s style and is very hard to target with a Bludger. Paul and Delia find this news rather pleasing.

On their walk back from the Great Hall, they stop when they hear running coming from down the hall. Lance turns to see Xander, Layla, and Keith hurrying up to them. “Guys!” Xander exclaims. “Oh my god!” He huffs once he arrives. “I - I’m so - out of breath.”

Layla pats his back. “Don’t strain yourself.”

He shoves her away, but Keith steps between them to break up the squabble. “Both of you shut up!” Keith glares at them then turns back to Delia, Paul, and Lance. “Something slashed the painting in front of the Slytherin common room. The nearby paintings said it was a large black cat.”

Lance’s eyes widen in fear and he turns, running the rest of the way to the Gryffindor common room, but skids to a stop when he looks in horror at the ripped portrait of the Fat Lady. Delia, Paul, Xander, Layla, and Keith join him and gasp in shock.

“Oh no!” Delia exclaims. “Where’s the Fat Lady?!”

Someone cackles from above them and Lance looks to see Peeves the Poltergeist floating above them. “Don’t cha know?! Krolia Madelina did this!” He giggles. “She’s here in the castle!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 is all written, but I just have to make some edits on it. It should be up either tomorrow or Sunday.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comments. The artist and I work very hard on this.  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	6. Quidditch Catastrophes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school goes to great precautions to protect its students from Krolia's break-in. The Slytherin and Gryffindor students temporarily sleep in the Great Hall until the paintings can be replaced. During the Quidditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, the weather matches the current mood of the school perfectly and basically ruins Keith's mood for good. Lance hopes that Defense Against the Dark Arts can cheer him up, but their substitute teacher makes their life a living hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter just like I promised!
> 
> ALSO THIS IS THE BIG REVEAL CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Enjoy!

Ever since the night after Krolia’s break-in, the teachers have gone to extreme measures to protect the students. They’ve moved the Slytherin and Gryffindor students to sleep in the Great Hall until they find temporary replacement paintings for both common rooms. Lance thinks it’s a bit excessive, but then again, he doesn’t want to be mauled by a psychopathic murderer. Once they find replacement paintings, Lance finds himself less looking forward to going into the common room. The knight they put in place of the Fat Lady constantly thinks of complicated passwords and challenges students to fights. According to Keith, the new painting in front of the Slytherin common room isn’t any better. The girl in the painting complains about the boringness of the Slytherin students and wishes she could go back where the Hufflepuff students are.

The weather also takes a turn for the worse, adding to the gloomy mood of the school. On the day of the match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, Keith and Lance head to Defense Against the Dark Arts, looking forward to Lotor’s lesson to cheer them up.

Whoops. Lance spoke too soon.

Instead of Lotor’s friendly face, Lance sees Thace standing at the front of the classroom, flipping through a textbook. He and Keith exchange confused expressions then sit down in their seats in the front. Thace slams the book shut, startling the students. “Hello everyone. I will be subbing for Professor Isola today.”

Keith raises his hand. “Professor? Where is Professor Isola? Is he okay?”

“He’s going through something,” Thace replies curtly. “Do not interrupt me again.” He steps in front of the podium. “Now, open your textbooks to page three hundred and ninety-four.”

Lance flips to the page and furrows his eyebrows in confusion when he sees the word  _ werewolves _ written at the top. He raises his hand. “Professor? We’re not supposed to learn this for another few weeks.”

“Mr. McClain, do not interrupt the class!” Thace scolds. He begins to lecture about the history of werewolves and Lance finds himself not looking forward to the rest of the day.

Finally, the time for the match starts, but Lance still finds himself wishing he was anywhere else than outside. He and Pidge take their seats with Coran in the miserable, rainy weather. Hunk takes his place in front of the Hufflepuff posts and Keith takes his usual spot perched up in the sky.

The whistle blows signaling the start of the game. Lance can hardly see a thing through the heavy wind and rain, but manages to watch as Keith and Rolo Dawson, the Hufflepuff Seeker, circle around each other. Neither of them find anything.

Suddenly Lance sees Keith whirls his head around, looking at something up in the sky, almost falling off his broom. Thunder booms in the sky and a strike of lightning quickly follows. The sky lights up and Lance gasps when he sees an outline of the Pausa in the clouds. Seconds later, Keith takes off once again towards something glittering in the air: The Golden Snitch.

He flies over on his Nimbus 2000, but looks down to see hundreds of Dementors milling towards the field. Lance winces and shivers as a wave of coldness brushes over him. He covers his ears when he begins hearing his mother screaming again, but starts screaming himself when he sees Keith falling out of the sky.

Shiro suddenly stands up, wand drawn in Keith’s direction. “Arresto momentum!” he exclaims, a bright yellow light soars from his wand and engulfs Keith, slowing his fall.

Moments later Lance sees Rolo catch the Snitch, winning the game for Hufflepuff. Lance doesn’t have time to care about that right now. Instead, he rushes onto the field with Pidge as Hunk lands on the ground next to them. They help Allura bring Keith into the hospital wing where Colleen Holt begins tending to him.

The Slytherin team begins entering the room, but Allura goes to shoo them out. Lance looks at Pidge. “He’s gonna be crushed when he finds out Slytherin lost.”

“He almost died,” Pidge replies. “Do you really think his priorities will be there?” She pauses. “Yeah, you’re right.” Pidge turns to her mom. “Hey mom? Is Keith gonna be okay?”

“He should wake up any moment now,” she replies. “I’m sorry I had to meet all of you like this. Pidge always talks about you three.”

Pidge groans. “Mom, not now!”

Lance looks back at Keith with a solemn expression, but it brightens up when Keith begins to stir. “Keith?”

He groans and his eyes flutter open. Once he notices Lance looking down at him, he nearly jumps off the bed, but Pidge holds him steady. “What the - what happened?” Keith wonders.

“Um, Keith, we want you to know that no one blames you for this. Shiro was furious at the Dementors and sent them away immediately,” Pidge shares.

“Slytherin lost the game,” Lance explains gently. “Rolo caught the Snitch, but after he discovered what had happened, he and the entire Hufflepuff team said they’d be willing to play a rematch. Stella denied, saying they won fair and square and that she wants you to rest before they have their next match.”

Keith clenches his jaw. “Okay…and my broom?”

Lance looks away from his gaze. “The wind took it.” He watches as Pidge lifts up the bag from the ground and sets it on the bed, opening it to reveal broken broom parts. “We all tried to mend it, even Shiro, but…I’m so sorry, Keith.”

Keith bites his lip and nods. “Okay. I’d like to be left alone please. I’m tired.”

“Keith-” Lance starts.

“Please.” Keith looks at him with pleading eyes. “Lance, don’t.”

Lance nods. “Alright, come on Pidge.” He motions for her to follow him out and when they reach the door, they can hear Keith crying quietly in his bed. It breaks Lance’s heart to hear it, but he doesn’t go back.

 

* * *

 

Since the incident, Lance can tell Keith’s even more miserable than usual. On their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lance decides to question him about it. “Keith, I know you’re still upset about the game, but what else is bugging you?”

Keith sighs. “The game, the broom, but also the stupid Dementors! And I always see that stupid Pausa before disaster strikes!” He groans loudly and storms into the classroom and plops down in his chair, putting his head in his arms on the desk. Lance goes and sits next to him just as Lotor emerges from his office.

Lotor raises his eyebrow at Keith, but doesn’t tell him to sit up in his chair like Thace or any other teacher would. He continues on with class normally, dismissing Thace’s overload of werewolf homework and continuing to discuss where he left off before Thace subbed. Lance does his best to take notes, but can’t help when his mind and attention drifts where Keith still remands with his head in his arms on his desk.

After class, Lotor asks for Lance and Keith to stay back for a moment. Once the rest of the class leaves, he leans back against his desk and crosses his arms. “Okay, what’s going on with the both of you? Usually you two participate much more in class.” Neither of them respond so he continues. “I’ll start with Keith. I watched the game against Hufflepuff.”

Keith looks up at him. “I cost my team the game. They hate me.”

Lotor shakes his head. “Now, you and I both know that’s not true. I caught Sophia Barre and Reyna McGivney whispering during a quiz about whether or not you would be okay after the game. They thought you were going to quit the team. Your teammates care more about you than you think, Keith.” He tilts his head. “But that’s not all that’s troubling you, is it?”

Keith shakes his head no. “Why do the Dementors affect me so much? I mean they affect Lance a lot too, but I’m the only one who passes out because of it!”

“Dementors affect you two because of your pasts,” Lotor explains. “They are more horrible than other people’s pasts. Dementors are creatures designed to drown humans in misery and despair.”

“So, they’re attracted to us because we’re depressed?” Lance wonders.

“Essentially, yes, but that’s not my point. How about this…I will teach you both a Dementor repelling spell after Christmas, alright?” Lotor offers with a smile.

Lance notices Keith’s demeanor brighten at the sound of that. “Really? Thanks professor!”

Lotor smiles then turns to Lance. “I think I can safely assume that Keith’s distress was what was bothering you, correct?”

Lance nods. “Yeah. I hate seeing him upset, but also the Dementors as well. I always hear my mother screaming whenever they’re around and I hate it.”

“Well, good thing I’m teaching you both this spell!” He smiles. “Now you two better get a move on. I have many quizzes to grade.” Lance and Keith wave goodbye to Lotor and make their way to their next classes.

Later in the day, a second Hogsmeade visit rolls around, but this time Keith insists Lance goes with Hunk and Pidge. Lance begrudgingly agrees to go, but gives Keith his cloak of invisibility to sneak to Hogsmeade anyway. Lance smiles widely at all of the snow outside covering the buildings and shops that make up Hogsmeade. Pidge and Hunk first take Lance to Honeydukes, a candy and sweets shop, and buy bags of candy. Lance makes sure to get a bag of chocolates for Keith since those are his favorite.

After Honeydukes, the three munch on their candy and walk around the rest of Hogsmeade, peeking in the windows of all the different shops. Dervish and Banges which has various magical equipment displayed in the window, like brooms. Gladrags Wizardwear which has different types of robes on display. Before they can head inside Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop, Damien, Bethany, and their squad of bullies (Jack, Victor, and Nathaniel) confront them. “No Keith? Hmm I guess that means the muscle is gone! Or at least the person who has the guts to tell us off,” Damien snarls with a smirk.

Bethany crosses her arms smugly. “Are you sure you need all that candy, Hunk?” She chuckles when he hides the bag behind his back.

“Why don’t you guys just get lost?” Lance glares at them and pulls his wand out.

Damien lets out an exaggerated gasp. “Oh, are you sure you wanna do that? Your precious Keith isn’t here to-” A snowball hits him square in the face, preventing him from finishing his statement. He angrily wipes the snow off his face and looks around. “Who threw that?!”

Bethany lets out a scream as the back of her coat is moved and snow is dropped down her shirt. “COLD! AHH!”

Nathaniel also screams when his pants are suddenly pulled down. “WHO DID THIS?!”

Pidge, Hunk, and Lance start laughing loudly as the five Slytherins scramble to get away from the other three. Lance’s laughter stops when he sees Hunk’s scarf moving on its own. “Hunk! Look!” He sees Pidge’s hair bouncing on its own too. Lance furrows his eyebrows in confusion then looks at the ground, seeing footsteps walking up to him. Before anything can happen, Lance wraps his arms around something invisible in front of him. He feels around the top and pulls off the invisibility cloak to reveal Keith. “Keith! You’re here!” He laughs again and hugs Keith.

“How did you get here?” Pidge wonders, helping Lance remove the cloak from Keith.

“I’ll fill you guys in on the details later, but turns out there are tunnels under the school that lead out here,” Keith shares.

“What?! This means Krolia might have access to you and Lance or maybe to the tunnels you came through!” Hunk exclaims.

“Hunk, don’t worry about it,” Pidge says. “They’ll be fine. Come on, let’s get some Butterbeer!”

She leads them back to where the shops are and they walk inside the Three Broomsticks where they can order food and drink Butterbeer. The landlady of the Three Broomsticks, Madam Rosmerta, serves them butterbeer. She’s an attractive woman with curly blonde hair and green eyes.

As Lance lifts up his drink to take another sip, all of the sudden Mitch Iverson enters the pub followed by Slav, Allura, and Professor Holt. They see them greet Madam Rosmerta and she begins leading them upstairs. Keith grabs Lance’s arm and drags him towards the stairs with the cloak, putting it over the both of them before leading Lance upstairs. They slip in the door behind Professor Holt to listen to their conversation.

“Madam Rosmerta, I know you’re upset about the Dementors being here, but I assure you they are here for good reason,” Iverson tells Rosmerta. “Krolia Madelina is on the loose here at Hogwarts and we have to have all areas covered.”

“Ah yes, the woman who betrayed her friends to You-Know-Who,” Rosmerta comments. “I never saw her without her friend Rosa Garcia - well now McClain I suppose. It’s a shame, both of them always gossiped about the boys they liked. Krolia fancied Seth Kogane who surprisingly was a Gryffindor whereas Rosa fell for the troublemaker Luis McClain. Aren’t their sons friends now?”

Allura nods. “Yes, they are. Which is another reason why these Dementors are here. We are not sure what intentions Krolia has with the two boys.”

“She murdered thirteen people,” Professor Holt shares. “A dozen innocent Muggles and a wizard named Narti Ames.”

“Krolia had been Lance’s parents’ best friend Secret Keeper under a charm that is impervious if the Secret Keeper is faithful. She gave away the secret of Lance’s parents’ whereabouts to You-Know-Who, who, in turn, found Rosa and killed her,” Iverson explains.

“Do not forget she betrayed her own husband too,” Slav adds.

Lance’s eyes widen in shock and he looks at Keith who looks just as surprised as him. Krolia was Seth Kogane’s wife? Does that mean-

Allura stands up. “Nothing changes the facts. Krolia Madelina - rather Kogane - still remains as Keith’s mother no matter what she changes her last name to hide it.  She betrayed her own family to Lord Zarkon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 is completely written, it just has to be read over and edited. Plans for the cover of Book 4 are being made as well - we're halfway done with this book!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section. The artist and I work very hard on this.  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	7. Expecto Patronum!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Lance and Keith discover that Krolia is Keith's mom _AND_ she's the reason why Lance's mom is dead, everyone else does everything they can to prevent Keith from going after her. Lance knows better than to go picking a fight with an insane murderer, but Keith's a hot head. Luckily Lotor sticks to his promise and teaches both boys about the Patronus Charm that wards off Dementors thus keeping Keith's mind on something else for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FOUR! MORE! CHAPTERS!
> 
> HERE WE GO YEAH!
> 
> Enjoy!

December rolls in and Christmas break is upon them. Both Lance and Keith are still miserable about the conversation they overheard. Lance is angry at Krolia because she nearly had her own son killed and she betrayed his mother, the very woman who trusted Krolia with her life. Keith is angry at Krolia for numerous other reasons -  the main one being leaving him as an orphan. He refuses to associate the name Kogane with her.

Lance knows Keith would go to drastic measures to get revenge so he and Hunk do everything they can to prevent him from doing anything risky. To also take Keith’s mind off of things, Pidge suggests they go visit Slav.

Despite it being Christmas Eve, the visit is not a happy one.

“What do you mean trial?! Damien’s the one who didn’t listen to your directions!” Keith exclaims.

“I know, but the school board and Sendak Morrison have too much power. My word means nothing to them,” Slav says.

“Lance and I are witnesses!” Keith exclaims.

“So was Bethany, whose father is also on the school board,” Slav counters. “It’s official! Buckbeak is going on trial!”

“When is the trial scheduled?” Pidge wonders.

“April,” Slav replies sullenly. “He could be executed.”

The four continue to comfort him until they have to head back into the castle. Before heading to the Great Hall for dinner, they stop by the library to do some research on historical cases in which magical creatures won trials - they find nothing hopeful. The four friends split up and head to bed, too sad and too tired to continue searching.

The next morning, Christmas Day, Lance finds Hunk and Pidge sitting with Hannah, Lucy, and Marco at what would be the Gryffindor table. He takes a seat between Lucy and Hunk, across from Hannah, Pidge, and Marco. “Where’s Keith?” Lance wonders.

The rest of them shrug. “I don’t think I’ve seen him come down yet,” Hannah replies.

“Should we wait for him?” Hunk asks.

“Nah, I wanna open my gifts now,” Marco replies, beginning to tear open his gifts. The rest of the group follows and open their gifts, but stop abruptly when they hear someone enter the Great Hall.

Lance looks up and sees Keith hurrying over holding a long, shabbily wrapped present. “Keith? What’s-”

“You’ll never believe what this is!” Keith exclaims. He moves the wrapping paper to reveal a Firebolt broomstick.

Everyone gasps and looks at it in awe. “Whoa! How did you get that?!” Pidge asks.

“No idea! I just found it with my name on it, but there was no card attached,” Keith replies. He hands it to Hannah when she reaches for it to look at.

“Don’t you think it’s suspicious? What if Krolia sent it and she jinxed it to track you or something,” Hunk says warily.

“Hunk, that’s preposterous!” Pidge counters. “You’re just jealous of it.” She crosses her arms. “And still angry at Red for attacking your stupid rodent.”

Hunk gasps. “You leave Sunshine out of this! It’s not my fault your mean pets bully her!”

Pidge stands up angrily. “Rover is the nicest! He wouldn’t attack anything unless it’s for good reason!” She huffs angrily. “I’m outta here. Merry fricken Christmas!” She storms out of the Great Hall.

“Well then,” Hunk scoffs. “Blue hasn’t attacked Sunshine.”

Keith sends Lance and Hunk each a glare. “That’s because Blue’s been running errands! Honestly, maybe there is something wrong with your pet.” He turns and walks out after Pidge. Lance wants to follow him, but decides against it. Keith needs to blow off some steam.

After the rest of the McClains and Hunk eat the meal, Lance heads to the library where Keith and Pidge are looking at the broomstick. Shortly after, Allura, the Warden, and Hunk walk in. The Warden makes his way over to Keith and takes the broom from him.

“Hey! What gives?!” Keith demands. “That’s mine!”

“We are temporarily taking it in for examination,” Allura shares. “Just in case Krolia did tamper with it if she sent it to you.” She turns to Hunk. “Thank you for informing me.”

Hunk nods at her and she walks out. Keith and Pidge glare at Hunk while Lance sits there dumbfounded. “You snitch!” Pidge exclaims, pointing a finger. “You couldn’t stand the fact that Keith got the newest broom and you had to rip it from him! Come on, Keith. We don’t need them right now.” She grabs his arm and they storm out.

Lance rubs his forehead. Why can’t everyone just get along?

 

* * *

 

Classes resume and, sticking to his word, Lotor tells Keith and Lance to meet him in his classroom after dinner to practice the spell he promised to teach them. On their way to the classroom, Pidge and Hunk walk with them since it’s on their way to their common rooms.

“Guys, guess what?” Keith asks with a big smile on his face.

“What?” Lance asks.

“Stella promised to persuade Allura to give me the Firebolt back,” Keith shares in a boastful tone, mostly directing it at Hunk which causes him to scoff and storm off. Pidge high fives Keith before heading off to her common room.

Lance and Keith enter Lotor’s classroom and find him waiting at his desk. He stands up once they enter. “Hello, boys! Okay, let’s get started. This anti-Dementor spell I’m about to teach you is called a Patronus charm, which releases a silvery line of magic that repels Dementors. In order to cast this, you think of your happiest memory before saying  _ Expecto Patronum _ and pointing your wand at the Dementor - or, in this case, the Boggart.” He steps next to the wardrobe that the Boggart is stuck in. “Lance, you’re gonna go first, but the Boggart has to see Keith first.”

Lance nods and steps back, allowing Lotor to release the Boggart. It quickly changes form into a Dementor and slowly advances on Keith. Lance lifts his wand and points it at the Dementor. He thinks of the first happy thing that comes to mind: getting his Hogwarts letter. “Expecto Patronum!” Nothing happens. He tries again with making the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but still nothing.

Lotor quickly steps in before the Dementor-Boggart can harm Keith, sending it back into the wardrobe. “Good try, Lance, but you have to think of something even stronger.”

Lance nods, sitting down in a chair. He suddenly feels really tired, He watches as Lotor opens the wardrobe again and this time Keith raises his wand. “Expecto Patronum!” Nothing happens. Keith shouts it several more times, getting more frustrated until Lotor sends it back into the wardrobe. Keith collapses in a chair, exhausted.

“Don’t expect to get it on your first tries,” Lotor says, handing each of them a little bag of chocolate. “Eat this and you’ll both feel better. Good night you two.”

“Night Lotor,” Lance says, waving goodbye as he and Keith walk out.

“Maybe I can’t conjure a Patronus because I’ve never been happy,” Keith says solemnly as they reach the point where they have to split up.

Lance stops and turns to Keith. “That’s not true. I’ve seen you happy loads of times. You just have to find the time you were the happiest.” He smiles and pulls Keith in for a tight hug. “I believe in you, Keith, okay?” He pulls away to look Keith in the eyes. “Never forget that.” Lance smiles at Keith one last time before waving goodbye and heading to bed. He dreams about happy things, but none of them seem to be the right thing to use when casting a Patronus.

Time moves on and the bags under Pidge’s eyes seem to get more prominent. She’s still very overworked with classes and Lance has no idea how when she’s taking the same amount as him and Keith. What could be the problem?

Before another lesson with Lotor, Keith shares the news with Lance and Pidge that Stella was unsuccessful with her visit to Allura. She refused to give the broomstick back yet. The two boys say goodbye to Pidge as she walks into the library to do homework with Xander, Layla, Delia, and Paul. Lance and Keith enter Lotor’s classroom and quickly get to work.

While Lotor is helping Keith adjust his wand, he begins thinking. “Professor? What’s under a Dementor’s cloak?”

Lotor finishes helping Keith then looks at Lance. “The only people who truly can answer that question are not in the state to report it.” He sets his own wand down. “A Dementor only lowers its cloak when it’s preparing to administer the so-called  _ kiss _ which essentially sucks the soul out of the person who receives it.”

“That’s so twisted,” Lance comments. “A kiss usually stands for a showing of affection or love, but this is the complete opposite!”

Lotor nods. “The Ministry of Magic gave the Dementors permission to administer the kiss to Krolia if they ever find her. That’s why they’re here.” He notices Keith’s and Lance’s shocked/terrified expressions then looks at the time. “I think that’s enough for now. You both did significantly better today.” He offers them each chocolate and sends them out.

Keith and Lance exit, still shaken by this new information, and they don’t notice Allura coming around the corner. They accidentally run into her. “Oh! Sorry Professor!” Lance exclaims sheepishly.

She shakes her head. “It is quite alright. I, uh, came to return this.” She hands the Firebolt to Keith. “Good luck, Keith, and I am sorry I had to take it…it was for your own protection.” She nods at him then continues walking down the hallway and turns into Lotor’s office.

Lance ignores the suspicious feeling inside as he and Keith exchange a smile. The Firebolt is back! They run to the library to show the others. Delia and Xander fawn over it and ask Keith if they can ride it sometime. Before Keith can answer, Hunk storms in angrily with his arms crossed.

“Murderers!” Hunk yells, pointing his finger at Keith and Pidge. “Sunshine is missing and I found orange cat fur and brown feathers at the scene! Her blood is all over my bed! Your barbaric pets killed my Sunshine!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8 is completely written and 9 is just about finished as well. I also started 10 while I was writing 9 because I got excited so you've got 3 more chapters in the process of being written - that just leaves 2 more!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section. The artist and I work very hard on this.  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	8. Secret Maps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The silent fight between Hunk, Keith, and Pidge has reached an all-time high and Lance is stuck in the middle. He doesn't know which side to take. Hunk's been his friend since they were in diapers, but Sunshine has been known to pester Red and Rover so they do have a right to defend themselves.
> 
> To take his mind off this, the Quidditch game against Ravenclaw comes up and Lance couldn't be more excited. Keith allowed him to use the Firebolt so this should be an easy win for Gryffindor, right? No Dementors to ruin the game like they did for Keith? One can only hope so...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FOUR! MORE! CHAPTERS!
> 
> Enjoy~

Animosity between Hunk, Keith, and Pidge reached an all-time high after the apparent death of Sunshine at the claws and talons of Red and Rover. Lance has no idea whose side to take. Keith and Pidge should have better control over their pets, but Sunshine is rude to strangers aside from Hunk. Since Lance cannot make a decision on his own, Hunk elects to just avoid him, Keith, and Pidge altogether, spending all of his time with Shay and his other Hufflepuff friends, Shay still waves to them when she sees them, but never says hello because Hunk won’t let her. Classes Lance doesn’t have with either Keith or Pidge have been miserable because Hunk won’t spare him two glances.

To take his mind off the apparent loss of his best friend, the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw comes up. To brighten his spirits, Keith allows Lance to use his Firebolt for the game. Lance nearly jumps out of his skin in excitement. “Are you serious Keith? You’ll let me use it?!”

Keith smiles and nods. “Definitely. I think you’ll be an even deadlier Beater than you are right now.”

Lance gives Keith one last hug before taking the broom and hurrying to the locker rooms where his team is getting ready. “Hannah! Guess what!” Lance exclaims.

She turns around and gasps when she sees the Firebolt. “Whoa! Did Keith let you use this?!”

“Yep!” Lance exclaims with a smile.

“Oh my god we’ve got this win in the bag!” Brooklyn exclaims, high-fiving Lance.

Hannah smirks. “Tash is gonna be  _ pissed _ when I go tell her.”

“Don’t you have to give us a pep talk first?” Marco wonders, sauntering in the room, sporting the number 6 jersey.

“Yeah, uh, I’m not the pep-talker of the team.” Hannah pats Brooklyn on the back. “Brooke’s got it, right?”

Brooklyn nods. “Yeah, I’ve got you.”

Hannah gives her a thumbs up. “Alright, let’s hear it.”

The rest of the team gathers around and everyone looks at Brooklyn. She takes a deep breath. “Okay, we’ve been playing phenomenally in practice and now it’s time to show everything we’ve worked for right now. The Quidditch cup will be ours and it continues right now. Every single one of you is vital to this team. Beaters, it’s your job to protect the Chasers, prevent the other Chasers from scoring, and keep the other Seeker at bay. My fellow Chasers, it’s our job to rack up those points. Keeper, it’s your job to keep our end protected. Seeker, you’ve got the most important job - catching the Snitch. And subs, you’re there in case one of us can’t continue our job out in the pitch.” She smiles at everyone. “Let’s go win!”

Everyone cheers and high fives each other before running out of the locker room. Hannah takes Lance over to the Ravenclaw Beaters and they find Tasha talking things over with her other Beater, Anthony Richards.

Tasha notices them and crosses her arms. “You got a lot of nerve showing your face before the game.”

Hannah smirks. “You’re not gonna win. Lance is using Keith’s Firebolt. Our tank just got an upgrade.”

Tasha’s smug expression falters, but she shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter. Our new Seeker, Nyma Valentina, will easily win the game for us, so your stupid Firebolt is useless.”

Hannah rolls her eyes. “Whatever, babe. Don’t cry too hard when you see the final score.” She winks then mounts her broom.

Lance follows in suit and nearly flies forward off the broom when he takes off. This broom is much faster than he’s used to. It doesn’t take him long to get used to the speed and, soon enough, he’s taking laps around the pitch with ease. He spots Keith in the Gryffindor crowd with Delia and Paul so he quickly waves. Keith’s cheeks flush up a bit when he sees Lance on the broomstick, probably because of the cold breeze Lance caused when he flew by. He rejoins his team once Allura blows the whistle.

“Good afternoon Quidditch fanatics! I’m your lovely announcer, Matthew Holt, today’s match is between my personal favorite house, Ravenclaw, versus uh…what’s-their-face.” Pause. “OW! Okay! Against Gryffindor - goodness, Shiro! ‘Twas just a joke!” Matt exclaims.

Lance turns his head and sees Shiro and Matt bickering over the mic, but, as usual, Matt prevails and keeps the mic. “Anyway! Today’s match - whoa!” He points at Lance. “Do my eyes deceive me or is that a Firebolt?! Number seven Lance McClain of Gryffindor - look at him go on that broom!”

Lance smirks to himself and flies past Matt, earning a loud cheer from him. Hannah waves him over. “Lance, enough with the show antics, it’s business time. I’m putting you in charge of keeping an eye on the Seeker and protecting the Keeper, alright? All of my attention will be on the Chasers.”

“Okay, got it,” Lance says with a curt nod. He flies to his position in the sky and waits for Allura’s whistle.

Once he hears it, he takes off for the first Bludger he sees and immediately knocks it at Joshua Carlson, Ravenclaw’s star Chaser who sports the number 8 jersey. He ducks forcing himself to miss the pass from Kyle Matthews which allows Brooklyn to swoop in and intercept the pass. The Gryffindor crowd cheers loudly, but Lance hears Matt continuing to comment on the Firebolt. He turns quickly in the sky to see Hannah hit the other Bludger at the Ravenclaw Keeper, Macy Gills. She dodges out of the way, allowing Brooklyn to score. Lance cheers for his team, the score now being 10-0. Shannon Park flies past Lance, searching for the Snitch whereas Nyma Valentina sits up high, a tactic Keith likes to use.

He gets a little distracted admiring her, almost getting hit by Joshua as he comes barreling towards the Gryffindor hoops. Lance quickly moves out of the way and hits a Bludger at him before he can score. Joshua passes to Kyle in time and Kyle throws the Quaffle towards one of the hoops, but Dylan Rosa catches it just in time. Dylan hands it off to Timothy.

Suddenly Nyma moves from her spot in the sky and begins pursuing something. Lance gets a hold of another Bludger at hits it at her, but holds back on the power because he doesn’t want to hurt her. Hannah seems to notice this because he misses a couple times - something Lance is known not to do.

The Ravenclaws manage to score three times and Hannah calls a time out. The team gathers around her and she glares at Lance. “Okay, everyone and their grandmother knows you’re going easy on Nyma. I don’t know why, but I don’t care about your reasoning. Either man up and hit that Bludger like you mean it or I’m pulling you from the game, got it?”

Lance gulps and nods. “Yes ma’am.”

Hannah nods. “Good, now get back out there. Brooke, change up the tactics - their Chasers have already caught on to your offense.”

Brooklyn nods. “Got it.”

Allura blows the whistle, signaling the end of the time out and everyone gets back to their positions in the air. The game resumes and Gryffindor is able to catch back up to Ravenclaw’s score. Lance spots something glitter in the air and immediately sees Shannon fly after it.

The Snitch.

Nyma catches on and flies after Shannon as well, but, since she has a newer broom model, she’s faster at getting to it faster than Shannon is. Lance goes to hit a Bludger at her, but stops when he sees three Dementors walking alongside the field. His breath quickens and he starts to panic. Without thinking, he pulls his wand out and aims it at them, shouting the patronus spell Lotor taught him. He uses his other hand to hit the Bludger at Nyma, knocking her off her course to the Snitch which allows Shannon to catch it.

The Gryffindor crowd screams and cheers while Lance flies over to high five Shannon. He and the rest of the team take a victory lap around the pitch before heading to the locker rooms to change. Once finished, Lance meets up with Keith and Pidge. They stop talking the moment they see Lance. “Hey, what’re you guys talking about?” he wonders.

“Well, first, congratulations on that win. Why did Hannah call that time out?” Keith asks.

“Oh, I was being too gentle with my Bludger hits at Nyma,” Lance replies.

Keith’s nostrils flare out slightly and his fist clenches. “Oh…right.”

Pidge raises an eyebrow at Keith, but shakes her head then turns to Lance.

“Anyway, you know those Dementors you saw? Yeah, uh, those were actually several Slytherins - including Damien and Bethany - dressed in cloaks. They wanted to scare you so you’d mess up.”

“What!? I wasn’t even playing their house!” Lance exclaims.

“Yeah, well, they were severely punished by Allura and Professor Holt so don’t worry about it,” Keith adds curtly. “I’m gonna head off.” Keith walks away without saying anything else.

Lance looks at Pidge. “What’s with him?”

Pidge rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry about it. He’s just mad I got a better score than him during a Potions pop quiz.” She smiles. “See you later, Lance.”

Lance waves goodbye to her then heads up to his dorm to shower and head to bed. When he gets in bed and is about to fall asleep, a loud scream startles him awake. He sits up and sees Paul with his covers all messed up, holding his knees to his chest. “I-I saw it! Krolia slashed open the curtain around my bed!”

Everyone starts to panic and they run down to the common room where Allura eventually shows up and settles everyone down. She goes and asks the knight painting if he let anyone in the tower and he tells her that he did because the intruder had all the passwords written on a slip of paper.

Lance’s breath hitches. Someone left the passwords in the open for Krolia to find? Who would do this?

 

* * *

 

Ever since the second Krolia break-in, the Hogwarts professors tighten security measures. Doors are taught to recognize Krolia’s face and the Fat Lady’s portrait is returned, guarded by several trolls. One afternoon, Coran sends Lance, Keith, and Pidge an invitation to visit him for tea, but when they arrive, they find Hunk there with Coran. He scolds all four of them for ignoring each other, saying he thought they’d value their friendship more than broomsticks or pets.

Lance knew Coran tried to have them talk things out and make up, but Hunk ended up leaving after five minutes and Keith and Pidge refused to listen to anything Coran had to say. Deep down they all felt awful with how things are, but nothing changed between the four of them. Hunk remained hanging out with his Hufflepuff friends while Lance hangs out with Keith and Pidge, seeing as though Hunk won’t give him the time of day.

To take their minds off things, another Hogsmeade visit comes around, but Pidge says she has to stay back and finish up an assignment for her dad. Lance doesn’t want to go alone so Keith brings Lance, along with the cloak of invisibility, to one of the secret tunnels. “Okay, what I’m about to show you is gonna blow your mind,” Keith says with a smirk.

He pulls out a piece of parchment once they enter the tunnel. “Watch.” Keith pulls his wand out and taps the paper. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Lance gasps as words appear on the page:

He points out Shiro pacing in his office and Allura in the same room as Matt and Coran. Keith nods happily and points at Pidge and Professor Holt. “Isn’t this cool? It shows where everyone is all the time,” Keith explains.

“How did you get it?” Lance wonders.

“Reyna actually gave it to me,” Keith replies. “She said her brother gave it to her after he graduated.”

Lance follows Keith through the tunnels until they reach Hogsmeade. Once there, Keith puts on the cloak and Lance leads him to the Shrieking Shack, the most severely haunted house in Britain. Once they, well, visibly just Lance, enter, Damien and Bethany spot Lance and start to taunt him for being alone. Before Lance can insult them back, Keith, under the cloak, starts throwing mud at them. It provides amusement for the two boys until the cloak slips off, revealing Keith’s head.

Damien and Bethany gasp and run to tattle on them. Lance quickly grabs Keith’s arm and they quickly run back to Hogwarts. They hide the cloak in the tunnel just before Thace appears and summons them both to his office.

They arrive and stand there in fear while Thace paces back and forth in front of them. “Why am I not surprised at hearing about this? Sneaking into Hogsmeade when you do not have permission? Honestly, Keith, have you no shame? You’re just like your incompetent father. Though I am not surprised about you, Lance. You are the embodiment of your father so I expect nothing less.”

Lance scowls. “Shut up! My father is a great man!”

“Empty your pockets! You probably stole something from there while you were sneaking around!” Thace orders.

Lance shows that he has nothing in his pockets except for his wand while Keith pulls out the Paladin’s Map, though it is void of what it was showing before. Thace snatches it from him and looks over the paper. “What is this? Some sort of bewitched parchment?” He pulls his wand out and taps the paper. “I, Thace Slater, demand you reveal your secrets!”

Nothing happens for a couple seconds, but soon words appear on the page - not what Lance and Keith saw originally. The greeting is similar, but now messages are on the front.

_Messr. Moony & _

_Mmes. Migale, Tomlynx, & Fowl _

 

_Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Slater and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people’s business._

 

_Ms. Fowl agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Slater is an ugly git._

 

_Ms. Tomlynx would like to register her astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor._

 

_Ms. Migale bids Professor Slater a good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slime-ball._

 

Thace groans in anger and shoves the paper back at Keith and storms out of his office. Keith and Lance wait until he is gone before they laugh. “Oh my god whoever made this is a genius!” Keith exclaims.

“Right? I-” Lance stops when Thace re-enters his office with Lotor following close behind.

“I found this on Keith’s person. Have any idea what it is?” Thace asks, snatching the paper from Keith and handing it to Lotor.

Lotor looks over the map and taps his wand on it, trying to hide a smile. “Thace, I believe you are mistaken. This looks like it’s a simple trick from Zonko’s Joke Shop.”

“He’s right!” Pidge suddenly exclaims from the doorway. “I bought it for Keith’s birthday months ago.”

“I think I can take over things from here, Thace,” Lotor says with a small smile. “After all, this is my area of expertise.” He leads Keith, Lance, and Pidge out and back to his office. He sets the Map down on his desk and sighs. “It was very dangerous for you to have this map in your possession when Krolia is on the loose,” Lotor scolds.

“Wait, you know what it is?” Keith asks with wide eyes.

Lotor nods. “Yes, and that’s why I know it’s dangerous. The map makers may be trying to lure you out of the castle. I shall keep it in my possession for safe keeping, but you are not in trouble. If Thace asks, I had you clean my classroom.”

Lance and Keith nod. “Thanks Professor.”

Lotor nods and waves goodbye to them as they walk out of his office. Once they get out, they run into Hunk who gives them a solemn expression. He hands them a note from Slav to read. “Buckbeak lost the case. He’s going to be executed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can safely say that I have finished writing this entire book and have begun (began? English is stupid) to write the fourth book.
> 
> Update on Cops AU: Not sure if I'm gonna write a chapter of this before I post book 4 but we'll see
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section. The artist and I work very hard on this.  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	9. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After receiving word that Buckbeak is to be executed, Lance and his friends decide to put their differences aside. Hunk, Keith, and Pidge make up and things go back to normal. The final Quidditch game of the year comes up, Gryffindor against Slytherin. Lance's team is favored to win, being undefeated so far. The only way Slytherin can win is if they beat Slytherin by at least 200 points, but that's near impossible. Gryffindor has nothing to worry about...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THREE! MORE! CHAPTERS!
> 
> Enjoy!

Lance, Keith, and Pidge stare at the note Hunk handed to them from Slav that explains Buckbeak’s verdict. “I-I can’t believe he’s going to die,” Lance stammers, furrowing his eyebrows. “He was so kind when I rode on his back.”

Pidge bites her lip and looks away. “I feel awful.”

Keith looks at Hunk. “I’m sorry about Sunshine. I just…Red’s been with me my whole life and I could never think poorly of her.”

Hunk nods. “I forgive you. I’m sorry I acted like such a jerk about it.” They hug each other and Lance smiles before pulling Pidge over and hugging all three of them.

“I’m happy we’re all friends again!” Lance exclaims. “Hunk, the classes I have with you suck since you’ve been giving me the silent treatment.”

“I know and I’m sorry about that. I didn’t want you to be stuck in the middle so I just chose to ignore you as well,” Hunk says. “In hindsight that was a mistake.”

Lance smiles widely, overjoyed that everyone has made up. From then on, Lance feels himself being happier than usual, despite Krolia still being on the loose and Buckbeak’s imminent death. During his and Keith’s next Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Slav speaks sadly about Buckbeak. When Damien taunts his tears, Keith slaps him, but Slav doesn’t punish Keith, claiming to not have seen anything (along with everyone else who actually has a heart in the class).

Soon after, Hunk reports to Lance and Keith that Pidge missed Charms class. Lance finds this peculiar and when he leaves Astronomy, he spots Pidge asleep in Matt’s office, raising more questions as to why Pidge has been so tired lately. He ignores the feeling as he and Keith make their way into Divination, but stop when they see Pidge sitting at their table. “Pidge? What are you doing here?” Lance asks, pulling up a chair so he can sit with her and Keith.

“I missed this morning’s class so I’m making it up right now,” Pidge replies.

“Don’t you have a class right-” Keith starts, but Slav walks in, shouting out some predictions that the entire class rolls their eyes at.

He continues and makes some predictions about the final exam then finds another Pausa in Keith’s crystal ball. Pidge stands up fuming. “Enough with the bloody Pausa already! Ugh!” She storms out of the room angrily, completely fed up with the death omen nonsense.

Pidge’s outburst in Divination seems to be just the beginning of the rising tension at Hogwarts. With the final Quidditch match approaching along with final exams, Lance thinks he might explode out of stress. Once he remembers that Gryffindor is favored to win, he relaxes a little. In order to win the Quidditch Cup, Gryffindor just needs to beat Slytherin by catching the Snitch, but if Slytherin wants to win, they have to beat Gryffindor by at least 200 points.

Lance knows his team has this win in the bag.

On the morning of the match, Keith finds Lance about to get on his broom. “Hey, Keith? Come to intimidate the enemy?” Lance asks with a playful smirk.

“No,” Keith replies. “I couldn’t sleep last night because I had this recurring nightmare about a large black cat outside my window. So, if you wonder why I’m not playing well, there’s the reason. Good luck.” He boards his Firebolt and soars into the air.

Lance smirks to himself as the Slytherin crowd screams loudly as Keith flies by them. He’s really a natural up there and that’s one of the things Lance admires Keith for. Keith, unlike Damien, doesn’t boast his Quidditch skills to anyone who will listen. Lance kicks off the ground on his broom and joins his team in the sky.

“Okay, this is it. We’ve got the Quidditch Cup in the bag. If we keep the scores close, Slytherin will still get second place because of that devastating loss against Hufflepuff. Right now we’re in first, but barely in front of Slytherin,” Brooklyn says, “They have to beat us by over 200 points and that’s not gonna happen. Who cares if Keith Kogane has the Firebolt? He’s their only good player and Shannon can outsmart him. Play to his anger.” She looks at Hannah to continue.

“Yes, keep Keith out of the sky. We can’t give him the satisfaction of his perch up in the sky. Lance, keep him occupied, alright? Their Keeper has a weak left arm after an injury in one of their practices - use it to your advantage. Damien Morrison is a Quaffle hog, stay on him and force him to pass,” Hannah orders. “If we stick to this plan, we’ll win for sure. Okay! Break!”

Everyone splits off and takes their spot in the sky. Lance sees Stella Alamilla go to the center to face off with Brooklyn. Reyna McGivney is on her right while Damien is on her left. Timothy is in front of Lance on the right while Kerry is in front of Hannah on the left. Shannon starts more towards the back, closer to Finn. Keith also starts closer to their Keeper, Dylan Rosa.

Allura blows the whistle and Brooklyn wins the face-off, immediately passing to Kerry. Lance soars forward to the first Bludger he sees, not backing down when he sees Sophia Barre heading towards the same one. He gets there first and smacks it right towards Keith, forcing him to move from his spot in the sky. Lance smirks and winks at Sophia who glares at him.

From then on, both teams play nasty. Lance and Hannah let loose on their Bludger hits and the Chasers on both teams use a little more elbows than necessary. Allura doesn’t call much, but once Timothy gets nailed in the jaw by Damien that causes him to nearly fall off his broom, Allura blows her whistle. Lance and Shannon fly over since they’re the closest and they see Timothy holding his jaw, blood dripping down his chin. Allura joins shortly after and sends him down onto the ground, signaling Colleen Holt to head down there. “EXCESSIVE COBBING! PENALTY AGAINST NUMBER EIGHT, DAMIEN MORRISON!” She points at him. “YOU’RE OUT OF THE GAME!”

“What?! We’ve been using elbows all day and now you call it?!” Damien demands. “That’s crap!”

She blows her whistle again, pointing to where the emergency subs are waiting. “BOTH TEAMS WILL PUT IN A SUB FOR THE REMAINING OF THE GAME!”

Lance looks over at Hannah and she rubs her forehead, cursing under her breath. They have Dominic training to be Finn’s replacement Keeper once he graduates and has a sprained wrist so he can’t play. This forces Hannah to call Marco into the game. He showed more promising traits to be a Seeker, but they don’t have another choice. Lance turns and sees Stella scolding Damien for being an idiot and brings number 6 Loretta Beck, Lori for short, in the game. He has no idea how good she is, but from the looks of it, she doesn’t look too happy to have been picked. Lance thinks he remembers her trying out as a Beater, but he’s not too sure.

Hannah calls everyone in for another huddle. “Okay, since Timothy’s out, Marco will be playing for him. Kerry, you’re switching side with him so Marco can be on his dominant side, alright?”

Kerry nods. “You got it.”

“Does anyone have anything on Lori?” Hannah asks.

“I think she tried out as a Beater, but I’m not a hundred percent sure,” Lance shares.

“Good enough,” Hannah says. “Use that to your advantage!”

The huddle breaks and the game resumes, Gryffindor continuing to rack up points. Currently the score is 50-30 in Gryffindor’s favor. If Slytherin wants to win, they have to get to 100 points before Keith even spots the Snitch - something that is near to impossible now that they lost Damien. Sure, he’s a dick, but he’s a fantastic Chaser.

Lance’s confidence falters when he sees Brooklyn mess up an easy pass to Kerry. She threw it in a way Kerry wasn’t used to and she dropped it, allowing Stella to fly in and grab the Quaffle. Hannah hits a Bludger at her, but she dodges, easily passing to Reyna who scores another ten points.

Uh oh.

Gryffindor’s falling apart continues from here. Neither Brooklyn nor Kerry pass to Marco despite him being a better player than both of them right now. Slytherin catches up and passes Gryffindor, the score now being 50-70. Three more goals and Keith can catch the Snitch. Once Reyna scores another goal, making the score 50-80, Lance focuses all of his attention on trying to knock Keith off his broom, but Keith easily dodges all of his hits.

Suddenly Keith makes a sharp right turn and starts flying after something glittering in the air. “STELLA!” Keith yells across the pitch. “IT’S NOW OR NEVER!”

Lance looks in horror as Stella scores another goal and Reyna intercepts Finn’s throw to Brooklyn, scoring another goal, making it a 50-100 lead against Gryffindor.

“NO!” Lance screams as he hits one last Bludger at Keith as he reaches for the Snitch. Keith successfully grabs it out of the air and dives down towards the ground before the Bludger hits him. He topples off his broom and rolls on the ground, but hops to his feet, holding the Snitch up triumphantly.

Keith’s team flies down to the ground and hugs him tightly while Lance’s team lands on the far end and heads towards the locker rooms. Brooklyn says nothing to them and storms out in tears. Hannah sighs and looks at everyone. “You all played great…Slytherin was just better in their execution of plays.”

Lance walks up to his sister and hugs her tightly. “I’m sorry we couldn’t win the Quidditch Cup for you.”

Hannah chuckles and kisses his forehead. ‘It’s fine. We beat Ravenclaw and that’s all I really care about. You played great by the way.” She ruffles his hair then leaves to go shower.

Lance does the same and once he finishes, he finds Keith outside talking with Pidge and Hunk. They smile at him once he walks over. “Hey Lance! Great game,” Pidge compliments. “I’m surprised you didn’t kill Keith with how hard you were hitting those Bludgers.”

“He’s just too fast,” Lance says with a smile.

Keith suddenly hugs Lance tightly.

He releases Lance and smiles widely.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy in a while,” Lance comments, smiling back.

Keith leans in and whispers in his ear. “I think with all this giddiness, I could conjure up an impressive Patronus.”

 

* * *

 

After Slytherin’s Quidditch victory, exams come around and everyone gets to work preparing. Pidge doesn’t study with Lance, Keith, and Hunk like she usually does, but spends all of her time in Matt’s office. The boys try to get her to tell them what she’s doing, but she simply tells them Matt’s helping her study. After that, she refuses to say anything else.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lotor has his students combat several of the creatures they’ve studied over the term (including the Boggart, but Lotor excuses Keith from facing it). Lance and Keith both receive full marks.

The Care of Magical Creatures exam is easy because Slav has become fearful of another injury so he only tests the students on boring, harmless creatures like flobberworms. On the contrary, he puts more effort in creating his Divination exam, which Lance and his friends couldn’t care less about. Though he isn’t there proctoring the exam since Buckbeak’s appeal is today. Instead, he asked Coran to fill in. When it’s his turn, Lance makes up signs that will happen to him in the future. He mixes it up between good and bad so Slav won’t get suspicious.

Needless to say, Lance gets full marks. What else can be said? Lance just has a gift.

As Lance goes to leave the classroom, Coran grabs his arm and speaks to him as if he’s in a trance. “ _ The Dark Lord’s servant lives. She will rejoin you and Keith Kogane tonight before midnight _ ,” Coran states mistily. He’s never sounded like this before.

Lance’s eyes widen in fear as he tries to pull his arm away. Once free, Coran returns to normal and gives Lance a confused expression. “Lance? What’s wrong?”

“Uh…nothing!” Lance exclaims, voice cracking. “I-I’ll see you later!” He hurries out of the classroom and nearly runs into Keith who is waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. “Keith! You’ll never believe-”

“Buckbeak lost the appeal,” Pidge interrupts, walking up with Hunk. “He’s being executed at sunset.”

Lance blinks, having lost all interest in sharing what he heard. He looks out a nearby window and sees the sun nearing the horizon. “That’s - soon!”

Pidge nods. “We should go see him now. We asked Paul to get your cloak for you so we could head over right after your exam.”

The four set out underneath Lance’s cloak and arrive at Slav’s hut, knocking on the door. Lance pokes his head out so Slav knows it’s them and lets them inside. He removes the cloak from them and they sit down at the table. “How are you holding up?” Lance asks as Slav starts to make tea.

“I am trying to keep it together for Buckbeak,” Slav replies. “I’ve never seen him so depressed!” He points out the window where they see Buckbeak laying on the ground, head down. Slav lets out a sob and accidentally drops a milk jug, it falling to the ground and spilling everywhere. Pidge gets up to fill a new one while Hunk and Keith help Slav clean up.

“Whoa! Look!” Pidge exclaims, reaching into the milk jug before pulling out a squirming Sunshine. “She’s alive!”

Hunk gasps and takes the ferret from her, who refuses to stay still.

“Sunshine! It’s me - ah!” He jumps, startled when a jar on the table explodes, emptying its contents onto the table.

Lance goes to investigate, but feels something hard hit his head. “Ow! The hell?” He reaches on the ground and picks up a grey stone with a circular carving on it.

Suddenly voices sound from outside and all five of them freeze in their spots. “They’re here - you four need to leave, now,” Slav orders quietly, shoving them towards the back door with the cloak.

Lance hastily puts it over them and they hurry out the back door just before Slav opens the front door. They make it up to the castle and stop to watch. Lance unconsciously grabs Keith’s hand as the executioner lifts up the axe and swings it down on the ground. His eyes well up with tears and he looks away.

Buckbeak is dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Book 3 is completely finished and chapter 1 of book 4 is also written. I'm shifting most focus onto the cop au and the next part of the high school au. I'm so excited for where I'm taking this au and I want to have a fresh mind to start turning things around in book four!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section. The artist and I work very hard on this.  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	10. The True Convict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Lance and his friends are heading back into the castle after Buckbeak's death, Sunshine causes a commotion, refusing to stay still. A large puma catches sight of this and begins dragging Hunk away with Sunshine. Lance, Keith, and Pidge hurry after him, but what they find is the last thing they'd suspect...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWO! MORE! CHAPTERS!
> 
> Enjoy!

As Hunk, Keith, Pidge, and Lance trudge sadly away from Slav’s cabin, they have troubles staying hidden under Lance’s cloak because Sunshine won’t stay still in Hunk’s arms. “Sunshine! Come on! Work with me here!” Hunk exclaims in a whisper. Eventually he steps back and the cloak comes off of them. “Sunshine! Stop it!”

Lance grumbles and goes to pick up the cloak, but stops when he spots Red walking out of the forest. “Oh no…” He points as a large black puma emerges from the forest, yellow eyes almost glowing. Compared to Red, the puma looks like a monster. “Look!”

The puma notices them and snarls, roaring loudly before charging towards them. The four scream as it leaps forward, tackling both Lance and Keith. They look up in fear at the growling puma. Lance feels the claws dig slightly into his shirt and he whimpers, terrified out of his mind. He tries to reach for Keith’s hand, but stops when the puma sniffs them. It looks back up, roaring at Hunk then pounces on him. Hunk screams as it grabs his foot and drags him towards the Whomping Willow. “LANCE! KEITH! PIDGE! HELP ME!” he shouts.

“HUNK!” Lance yells, running after him. He dives down and reaches for Hunk’s hand, but it slips out and the puma drags Hunk through the hole in the Whomping Willow.

Keith and Pidge hurry over and help Lance to his feet, but all three of them are hit by a branch of the Whomping Willow and are thrown backwards. They scramble to their feet and look as the Willow waves its branches around madly. Hunk’s screams can be heard from within the tree. “Come on!” Keith exclaims, charging forwards towards the tree. Lance and Pidge follow after, dodging the branches as they swing down at them.

Lance dives to the left while Pidge and Keith dive to the right as a branch slams down between them. “I hate this tree!” Pidge yells, clearly annoyed. They scramble to their feet and eyes widen as another branch comes swinging at them from the side. “Duck!”

Pidge and Lance successfully duck, but Keith gets hit, flying to the side on his back, “Keith!” Lance exclaims. He turns back and successfully jumps over another branch, along with Pidge, but she gets swept up by the second one. “PIDGE!”

She starts screaming as she gets flailed around by the branches. Lance yells himself as one of the larger branches swings down on him like a hammer. He dives to the side, rolling into Keith. “Keith!” He helps Keith to his feet and they dodge another set of branches. “How do we-”

“LANCE! TAKE MY HAND!” Pidge yells as she comes flying by. He reaches up and grabs it, being lifted up into the air. Once the branch circles back around, Pidge drops him into the hole. Lance tumbles down the hole in the Whomping Willow and groans when he hits the ground. He goes to get up, but Keith lands on top of him, followed by Pidge.

“Ow…” Lance whimpers from underneath two bodies.

“Sorry!”

Keith gets up as Pidge rolls off of him. He offers a hand to help Lance up. “Where do you suppose this goes?” Lance wonders.

“I have a hunch,” Keith replies, motioning for Pidge and Lance to follow him. “I just hope I’m wrong.”

Lance and Pidge exchange a nervous expression, but follow Keith through the dark, root covered passageway until they reach a set of stairs that gradually lead up. Once at the top, they find a hole and Keith and Lance peak their heads up, noticing a trail of dirt, blood, and paw prints leading deeper inside. The two boys hop out and help Pidge up. Everything around them is dusty and old. A set of old stairs to their right lead up to another level and a boarded up window. “This is the Shrieking Shack,” Lance concludes.

Keith nods and motions for them to follow him upstairs where they hear Hunk yelling some more. They run up the stairs and peak in some rooms. Lance opens up a door and sees a couple pieces of broken furniture and a huge scratch mark across one of the walls. He quickly shuts the door, not wanting to know what caused that. He turns to look at Keith and Pidge, but they both shake their heads no.

“Just an old bedroom in here,” Keith says.

“Mine had ripped up floorboards and a torn couch,” Pidge shares. “I wonder what caused it.”

“I really don’t wanna find out,” Lance says with a grimace. He gestures to the last door at the end of the hallway. Keith leads them over and they open it up to see Hunk sitting on a chair. “Hunk!” Keith exclaims, running over to him with Lance and Pidge closely behind.

“Where’s the cat?” Lance asks.

“It’s a trap! She’s the cat! She’s an Animagus!” Hunk exclaims, pointing to the opposite corner of the room.

Lance follows the pawprints on the floor over to a corner where a woman stands in the corner. She slams the door shut and stands there with a glare on her face. Lance immediately sees the resemblance between her and Keith. They both have the violet eyes, pointed nose, and sharp chin features. Her bangs resemble Keith’s and her jet black hair is pulled into a loose, low ponytail in the back..

The three kids pull their wands out and aim them at Krolia, but she quickly disarms them with Hunk’s wand, shouting, “Expelliarmus!” Lance’s wand flies out of his hand and into Krolia’s.

He opens his mouth to yell, but Pidge beats him to it, stepping in front of Lance and Keith. “If you want to kill Lance and Keith, you’ll have to kill us too!” she exclaims.

“No, only one will die tonight,” Krolia replies, slowly inching forward.

“THEN IT’LL BE YOU!” Keith screams, running towards her, tackling her to the ground. They struggle with each other for a bit until Keith grabs the four wands from her and throws Lance’s, Pidge’s, and Hunk’s behind him, keeping his own pointed at Krolia’s throat. “You’re gonna pay for what you did to Lance and me! You ruined my life!” He stands up and she backs up into the corner.

Krolia breathes heavily. “Keith, don’t do this, sweetie. I-”

“SHUT UP!” Keith bellows. “You have no right to speak to me!” His hand shakes and he opens his mouth to say another spell, but Red suddenly jumps onto Krolia’s chest, over her heart.

“No, Red, move!” Krolia orders.

Lance’s breath hitches. Why would Red betray them like this? Is Keith willing to kill his favorite pet just to get revenge on the woman who claims to be his mother?

Before Keith can make a choice, a wave of magic hits his hand, sending his wand away. Lance turns and sees Lotor standing there, wand pointed at Keith. He gestures for him to get out of the way. Keith scrambles back over to Pidge and Lance, and Lance grabs Keith’s arm, pulling him close. Keith takes his hand and holds it tightly while taking Pidge’s in his other. Red hops off Krolia’s chest, back over to Hunk.

“Krolia, looking rather tattered and tired, aren’t we? It’s an odd sight for you,” Lotor says, slowly approaching Krolia with his wand still pointed at her. “Finally, the flesh reflects the madness within.”

She scoffs. “You know all about the madness, don’t you Lotor?” Krolia counters, still on the ground. Lotor smirks and lowers his wand, extending a hand to help Krolia to her feet. They pull each other into a tight embrace, as if they’ve known each other for many years. Krolia holds onto Lotor like he's the only thing keeping her tethered to the ground. Her eyebrows furrow and it looks like she’s going to cry.

Wait a minute…

Lance’s jaw drops down and Keith’s grip tightens on Lance’s hand.

“I-I found her!” Krolia exclaims, voice wavering with excitement. “It’s her!” She holds onto Lotor’s arms and smiles widely.

“I know,” Lotor says. “I understand.”

“Let’s kill her!”

“No!” Pidge exclaims, stepping away from Lance and Keith and towards Krolia and Lotor. “I trusted you! And all this time you’ve been her friend?!”

Krolia’s smile disappears and she and Lotor exchange a solemn expression.

“He’s a werewolf!” Pidge reveals. “That’s why he’s been missing classes.”

Lotor turns and looks at her. “How long have you known?”

“I figured it out from seeing your Boggart turn into the moon, that you’ve been out sick during each month’s full moon, and when Thace sent the essay,” Pidge replies.

“Well, Pidge, you truly are the brightest witch of your age,” Lotor comments. “I had a feeling you’d be the one to figure it out.”

“Oh enough talk, Lotor!” Krolia yells. “Come on! Let’s kill her!”

“Wait!” Lotor exclaims.

“I did my waiting!” Krolia exclaims, near tears. “Twelve years of it…in Beta Traz!”

Lotor looks back at Keith, Pidge, and Lance then hands his wand over to Krolia. “Very well…kill her. But wait one more minute…Keith and Lance have the right to know why.”

“I know why!” Lance exclaims. “You betrayed my mother! You’re the reason she’s dead!”

“No, Lance, it wasn’t her!” Lotor exclaims. “Someone did betray your mother and Keith’s father, but it wasn’t Krolia. It was somebody who I thought, ‘till quite recently, to be dead.”

“Who was it then?!” Keith demands.

“Narti Ames!” Krolia yells.

“No, Narti is dead,” Keith counters. “You killed her!” He glares at Krolia.

“No she didn’t! I thought so too until I saw Narti’s name on the map,” Lotor shares. “I saw you four exit Slav’s cabin along with a fifth name beside Hunk’s - Narti Ames. That’s when I realized she must be alive and disguised as Sunshine.”

Hunk shakes his head no. “That can’t be true!”

“Narti took everything from me!” Krolia yells “She took the love of my life…” A tear rolls down her cheek as she moves her gaze to Keith. “My son…my precious son.” She wipes her cheek. “My son grew up an orphan because of her! She needs to die for her crimes!”

“Krolia, no, we have to explain everything to them first,” Lotor reasons. “They deserve the truth.” He turns back to Lance and his friends. “When I first attended Hogwarts as a young werewolf, Alfor - he was headmaster at the time - devised a way for me to leave the school secretly and safely through the Whomping Willow and remain there during the full moon in the Shrieking Shack.”

Lance and Keith exchange a knowing expression. That must be why this place is called the Shrieking Shack! It was never haunted…just inhabited by a noisy werewolf.

“I usually kept to myself during the year, but eventually befriended two people in my class, Narti Ames and Seth Kogane and three third years, Rosa Garcia, Krolia Madelina, and Luis McClain. My close friends, however, were Rosa, Krolia, and Narti since Seth and Luis each had their own Quidditch friend group.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, Rosa, Krolia, and Narti noticed my monthly absence and figured out my true identity. I thought they would be disgusted and terrified, but they were supportive and wanted to help. They then worked toward becoming animagi so they could assume animal form and keep me company without placing themselves in danger,” Lotor continues. “We roamed everywhere and learned every part of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and we ultimately used the information to create the Paladin’s Map. I’m Moony, Krolia is Tomlynx, Rosa is Fowl, and Narti is Migale.”

“Wait, but there only have been seven registered animagi over the century,” Hunk says.

Lotor chuckles. “Well, they’re unregistered. I felt extremely guilty for not telling Shiro that Krolia was an animagus and could have entered the castle in another form. I felt deeply grateful to Alfor for giving me an education and Shiro for a job. I didn’t want to let Alfor’s successor down. Not to mention he started attending Hogwarts when I was a fourth year so that made everything even harder.”

“If you don’t come here anymore, how are you calm during the transformations?” Pidge wonders.

“Thace makes the revolutionary potion called Wolfsbane that allows me to keep my mind during my transformations. It keeps me harmless during it because he was always curious about my monthly disappearances,” Lotor explains.

“He hates us because of a trick I pulled on him one year,” Krolia pipes in. “ I encouraged him to follow Lotor down the Whomping Willow, but Rosa came and rescued him before he encountered the fully-grown werewolf at the other end of the tunnel.”

Lotor nods. “He thinks I was in on it and it’s one of the reasons why his grudge against us carries down to Lance and Keith.”

Suddenly Thace appears, shedding Lance’s invisibility cloak and points his wand at Krolia. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say I'm sorry about that cliffhanger, but that'd be lying :)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section. The artist and I work very hard on this.  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	11. The Puma Patronus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Thace burst into the room, this adds another problem to the list of problems accumulating for Lance and his friends. Were Krolia and Lotor telling the truth? Was Krolia Kogane innocent?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE! MORE! CHAPTER!  
> Also T minus two days till season 5! I'm very scared and have lots of wishes, but I have to keep telling myself not to get my hopes up!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy~

“Ah, vengeance is sweet. I hoped I would be the one to catch you.” He smirks. “I found the invisibility cloak where Lance dropped it…very useful.”

“Thace-” Lotor starts, but quickly stops when Thace aims his wand at him.

With one flick of his wand, Lotor’s arms and legs are suddenly bound together and he falls backwards into a chair. “I told Shiro you were helping an old friend into the castle and now here’s the proof!” Thace exclaims.

“Brilliant, Thace! You put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and, as usual, come to the wrong conclusion!” Krolia snarls at him. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Lotor and I have some unfinished business to attend to.” Her breath hitches when Thace puts his wand to her throat.

“Give me a reason not to kill you, I beg you,” Thace taunts, sarcastically.

“Thace, don’t be a fool,” Lotor warns.

“He can’t help himself but be tempted,” Krolia retorts with a dry chuckle. “The poor man must still be infatuated with-”

“Krolia, be quiet!” Lotor scolds.

“Oh, quiet yourself, Lotor!” Krolia yells back.

“Look at you two…quarrelling like an old married couple,” Thace mocks. “After all these years, you two are still at each other’s necks. However, it doesn’t surprise me to see you two like this. Krolia, you allowed your husband to die. Lotor, the girl you could never attain still remains at Hogwarts. How does-”

“What do you know?! Why don’t you run along and play with your chemistry set instead of being a creep?!” Krolia snaps.

She yelps in pain when Thace presses the tip of his wand against her neck harder. “I could do it, you know,” Thace says, “but why deny the Dementors what they’re so longing to do?” He smirks when he sees Krolia’s eyes widen. “Do I detect a flicker of fear? The Dementors kiss…one can only imagine what that must be like to endure. It’s said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I’ll do my best.”

Lance breathes heavily and begins to reach around Keith’s back and into his pocket for his wand, careful not to take his eyes off the three arguing adults. Thace is getting on his nerves and he’s starting to get suspicious about Krolia being guilty for all of this.

“Thace, please,” Lotor tries.

Thace ignores him and points to the door with his wand, still glaring at Krolia. “After you.”

Lance raises Keith’s wand at Krolia, but quickly turns it on Thace, shouting, “Expelliarmus!” Thace, without having time to react, goes flying back into an old bed frame. He smashes through it and immediately goes unconscious.

“Lance! What did you just do?!” Hunk asks, shocked.

“You attacked a teacher!” Pidge exclaims.

“Tell me about Narti Ames,” Lance demands as Krolia begins untying Lotor. ‘How did you find out that she was here?”

“I recognized Sunshine as Narti in a photo in the newspaper Mitch Iverson gave me during a visit,” Krolia explains, tossing the ropes to the side. “It said that you would be returning to Hogwarts.” She gestures to Hunk. “I set out to Hogwarts after her.”

“How could you possibly know it’s her?!” Hunk demands. “There are thousands of ferrets!”

“I guarantee you that one’s missing a toe,” Krolia replies.

Lance gasps softly. “The only thing that was found of Narti was-”

“-her finger.” Keith finishes.

Krolia nods. “She must’ve cut off her finger before blowing up the street and disappearing into the gutter. Then she framed  _ me _ for the whole thing!” She shakes her head. “Anyway, Red, your cat, helped me in my pursuit of Narti. She sensed that Sunshine was no ordinary ferret and sensed the same about me. I was able to communicate with her then. She then got the little owl friend to help too. I think his name was Rover?”

“That’s my owl!” Pidge exclaims.

Krolia smiles slightly. “They’re both very fond of you two. Keith, Red would do anything to protect you.”

Lance turns and looks at Keith who is actively avoiding looking at Krolia. He must still not believe her entirely. Well, neither does Lance. “How do we know you’re not lying?” Lance asks.

“Give me the ferret and I’ll prove it,” Lotor says as he picks up his wand from the ground. He holds his hand out to Hunk. “If she’s an ordinary ferret, this won’t harm her, but if she’s an Animagus, Narti Ames will transform back into her human form.” Hunk nods and timidly hands the ferret to him.

Krolia picks up Lance’s wand from the ground and nods at Lotor. He takes a deep breath then sets the squirming ferret down. It scampers across the furniture in the room until Krolia hits it with a blast of magic. Suddenly the ferret slowly grows and transforms into a thin, dark haired woman. She’s squirmy and nervous just like she was when she was a ferret. Narti blinks and looks around the room before her eyes land on the two adults. She gasps. “Lotor? Krolia? My old friends!” She smiles before making a break for the exit, but Lotor and Krolia stop her and push her back into the room.

Narti turns and looks at Lance, walking up to him. “Lance McClain! Oh, look at you…you look so much like Rosa.”

Lance’s eyes widen and he steps away from her. Keith places himself between Narti and Lance, taking Lance’s hand behind his back. “Keith! Oh, look at you! I see the resemblance between you and your mother!”

Narti reaches to touch his cheek, but Krolia grabs her arm and pulls her away. “How dare you speak to my son?! How dare you speak to Lance about Rosa?!” She points Lance’s wand at her.

“You sold Rosa and Seth to Zarkon, didn’t you?!” Lotor demands.

“I didn’t mean to! The Dark Lord - you have no idea the weapons he possesses,” Narti shares lustfully. “What could be gained by fighting against the most powerful wizard to ever exist?”

“What was there to be gained by fighting the evillest wizard that ever existed? Only innocent lives, Narti!” Krolia yells.

“Y-you don’t understand! He would have killed me!” Narti exclaims. “What would you have done?”

“I WOULD HAVE DIED!” Krolia shrieks. “YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED - DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!” She takes a shaky breath. “You took everything! My son grew up an orphan because of your selfishness! He loathes me because of you! The only memory - the only living thing I have left of Seth is Keith…and you destroyed that!”

Keith turns and looks at Lance. “Lance, my mom’s innocent,” he whispers. “Narti killed my father and your mother. She framed Krolia.” Lance nods in agreement.

“Fine!” Narti exclaims. “I was and am the servant of Lord Zarkon.”

“If Zarkon wouldn’t kill you, then we would!” Krolia exclaims, aiming Lance’s wand at Narti. Lotor does the same and Lance panics, knowing his mom wouldn’t like this.

“Wait! No!” Lance exclaims.

Lotor sighs and turns to look at Lance. “Lance, this woman-”

“I know what she is, but we’ll take her to the castle,” Lance says.

Narti cries hysterically. “Bless you, boy! Bless you!” She reaches for his foot.

“Get off!” Lance exclaims, stepping away from Narti. “I said we’d take you to the castle. After that the Dementors can have you.”

“Yeah, besides, I doubt Rosa McClain or my father would appreciate it if their two best friends became murderers,” Keith comments, crossing his arms. “Narti should be tied up to two of us.”

“Right, tie her up to me,” Lotor says.

“And me,” Hunk says.

“Oh, Hunk, your leg. I cannot mend bones like Colleen Holt, but I’ll put a brace on it,” Lotor says, aiming his wand at Hunk’s leg. He mutters something and Hunk’s leg suddenly becomes bandaged. Hunk stands up slowly and puts pressure on it.

“Whoa, thanks,” Hunk says.

Krolia says the spell to tie Narti between Hunk and Lotor before heading towards the exit. “Wait!” Pidge exclaims. “What about Thace?”

“Ugh, I was hoping you all forgot about him,” Krolia groans. She waves Lance’s wand and Thace begins floating. “Come on.” She leads them out, Keith and Lance walking with her, Pidge trailing behind to make sure Thace’s unconscious body stays levitated while Lotor and Hunk make sure Narti doesn’t escape either.

As they’re walking through the tunnels, Krolia attempts to make conversation with Keith and Lance. “Lance, did you know that Rosa and Luis named me your godmother when you were born?” She smiles at him, handing his wand back to him.

“Really? That’s so cool!” Lance exclaims, taking his wand back. “My dad’s going to be so relieved to know you’re innocent. Ever since you broke out of Beta Traz, he’s been kinda depressed.”

“I know,” Krolia says solemnly. “He was in love with Rosa.” She smiles. “I didn’t really have a family of my own since my parents sorta disowned me, but I was always welcomed at her house. She helped me win over Seth Kogane even though we both couldn’t stand each other.” Krolia smiles widely and turns to look at Keith. “We were both Seekers for our houses.”

“Wait, my dad wasn’t Slytherin?” Keith wonders.

Krolia shakes her head no. “He was Gryffindor with Luis and Rosa, Lotor was Ravenclaw, Narti was Hufflepuff, and I was Slytherin.” She pauses. “Keith, once things settle down…you’re more than welcome to come live with me, but I understand if you don’t.”

“Are you serious?!” Keith asks with wide eyes as they exit the tunnels. He stops and looks at her. “Live with you and get out of that foster home? Yes! Please!” He laughs and hugs Krolia. At first she tenses up, slightly surprised at this, but after a few seconds she hugs Keith back.

Lance smiles at their exchange, but feels a twinge of jealousy inside. He hasn’t hugged his mom in six or so years and he really misses that. He looks down at the ground, but looks back up when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Lance looks up and sees Krolia smiling at him. “Lance, thank you for being Keith’s friend through all of this. I know it couldn’t have been easy befriending someone whose mother was framed for murder.”

“Actually, Mrs. Kogane, uh, I didn’t know that at the time. None of us did,” Lance shares.

“What? You mean Shiro didn’t-” Krolia sighs and rubs her forehead. “So, all this time you thought you were an orphan?” She asks, turning to Keith.

“I didn’t know what I was. People called me Mudblood so I just assumed-” Keith starts.

“No! Honey, you’re a Halfblood,” Krolia says, rubbing her forehead, “Never mind, we’ll deal with this later.” She looks up at the sky as the clouds start to move, revealing a full moon. “Oh no…”

Lotor, Hunk, Narti, and Pidge emerge from the Whomping Willow tunnel, Thace floating behind them. It’s gotten much darker out and the moon is the only thing lighting up the area where they’re all standing.

“Lotor, you need to get out of here, we’ll move the binds onto me,” Krolia orders, pointing at the sky.

“Wh-” Lotor slowly turns around and his eyes widen in fear at the full moon. He hisses in pain, cringing as his limbs start to move around and grow longer. His clothes start to rip and he yells loudly, voice slowly turning into a howl. Lance watches in horror as Lotor slowly becomes less human and turns into a terrifying hybrid between man and wolf. Lotor begins tearing at the chain holding him to Narti.

“Kids, get out of here!” Krolia yells before shifting into the puma to fight the werewolf away. She pounces on Lotor once he breaks free from the chains. Krolia roars loudly in his face, trying to pin him down, but Lotor is much stronger and easily throws her off.

Lotor slowly turns, growling at Lance and his friend. “Professor, it’s us! This isn’t you!” Lance exclaims.

He ignores Lance and continues to approach, jumping up at them, but Krolia comes from the other direction and pushes him away. She roars again, clawing at him and drawing blood from his arm. Lotor tries to attack her again, but she slashes her claws across his face. Lotor whimpers and Krolia chases him into the Forbidden Forest.

Narti spots Lotor’s wand on the ground and grabs it, pointing it at Hunk, blasting him away from her then at herself. “NO!” Lance yells, pulling out his own wand. “Expelliarmus!” The wand flies out of her hand, but it’s too late. She smirks and waves to them before shrinking back down into a ferret.

“MOM! NARTI’S GETTING AWAY!” Keith screams.

Once she chases the werewolf away, Krolia pounces after Narti, taking off into the forest. Keith, Lance, and Pidge go an examine Hunk. “Oh god…did Narti kill him?!” Lance asks.

“No, I feel a pulse,” Pidge replies. “We should get him to-”

A yowl of a cat interrupts them from the forest. Keith immediately runs into the forest after the sound and Lance chases after him. “Keith! Wait!” Lance yells. Pidge follows closely behind Lance.

Lance skids to a stop and gasps as he sees Krolia cowering near a tiny pond at the approach of over a hundred Dementors. She’s paler than normal clearly weaker than normal, trying to shield herself from the dementors.

“MOM!” Keith screams. He runs over and stands over her protectively, pointing his wand. “EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

“Pidge, we need to help him!” Lance urges, ignoring the searing pain in his head and the screams in his ears. He grabs her arm and drags her over. “Expec-Expecto P-Patronum!” Lance struggles more and more to hold his wand, as if it suddenly has a cinder block tied to the end. He feels himself getting weaker and tired as he drops to his knees. The world around him loses its color and he finds himself breathing heavily. What was the point of all of this? What was he doing here?

Pidge collapses down on the ground next to him and Krolia collapses onto the ground as well. Keith still tries to conjure a Patronus charm, but to no avail. He slumps over onto on the ground, defeated. Suddenly one of the Dementors lowers its hood, revealing grey skin, empty eye sockets, and a shapeless sucking hole of a mouth. It grabs Keith’s head and prepares to administer the soul-sucking kiss to him. Lance feels himself drowning in cold misery of despair. He tries to lift his wand to assist Keith, but can’t muster up the strength to do it. A tear rolls down his cheek when he watches Keith struggle to get away.

“K…Keith…” Lance reaches for him, but squints when a bright white light shines towards them, driving the Dementors away. A white shape runs around, sending the Dementors flying off in different directions. The warmness in the air returns and Lance blinks, trying to make out the creature. He realizes it’s a puma and watches it run away to someone who looks familiar with black hair, but exhaustion overtakes him and he faints before he can see anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Book 4 is completely outlined and such, but I'm waiting to post anything just in case some new characters are introduced and I can switch around some character assignments :)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section. The artist and I work very hard on this.  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)


	12. Pidge's Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Could this be it? Buckbeak's dead and Krolia still will be administered the deadly Dementor's kiss, but Lance and his friends all know she's innocent! Shiro believes them, but there's no evidence to prove any of this.
> 
> If only there were a way they could travel back in time and change a few things...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter...here we go yeah!
> 
> Enjoy~

Lance jolts awake in the hospital wing when he hears Thace’s voice booming about something. He only catches the end of it, but Lance assumes Thace took credit for saving them from the werewolf and Krolia Madelina. He couldn’t have casted the Patronus…the caster was too young to be him! He pretends to still be asleep when the second voice speaks. He recognizes it to be Mitch Iverson’s.

“Well, Thace, I can assure you I will give you an award for your bravery tonight! I’m sure these children are very grateful,” Iverson says.

Lance sits up in his bed and glares at them. “He’s lying! He did nothing!” He hops out of bed just as Pidge and Keith do the same. Hunk is awake too, but since he has a broken leg he stays put.

“She’s innocent! My mother is innocent!” Keith exclaims.

Iverson gasps. “How do you - never mind that.” He turns to Thace. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“He’s lying, sir! Krolia didn’t kill all those people, Narti Ames did!” Pidge exclaims. “We saw her with our own eyes!”

Thace waves his hand dismissively. “Krolia must’ve confounded your minds. Minister, you can’t possibly believe children about this. Krolia is the criminal and we caught her. She’s in the astronomy tower and won’t get out again.”

Lance opens his mouth to insult Thace, but Shiro enters the room, causing everyone to go silent. “Mitch, Thace, I must speak with these four alone, now.”

Iverson nods and leads Thace out of the hospital wing, shutting the door behind them. Once the door shuts, Shiro gets down to business. “I’ve heard Krolia’s story and I believe it…I believe you four as well, but there’s not a shred of evidence to back it up.” He turns as if only speaking to Pidge. “If only you had more time that night…you could save two innocent lives. I think three twists will do the trick.” He winks at her and Pidge nods in understanding. Shiro leaves the room without saying anything else.

“I think he’s gone mad!” Hunk exclaims. “What is he talking about?”

Pidge suddenly reaches in her shirt and pulls a shiny golden necklace out. The charm on the center gold piece is a miniature hourglass. Lance squints at it. “Wait a second…is that-”

“A Time-Turner, yes. Shiro and my dad gave it to me so I could take more classes this year. With this I could take more than one class at the same time,” Pidge replies. “We cannot be seen by anyone, especially our past selves. Come on, we don’t have time to waste.” She holds it in her hand and motions for Keith and Lance to come to her. She puts the gold chain around each of their necks and turns the hourglass backwards three times.

Lance looks around in awe as the room moves backwards around them - almost as if someone hit a rewind button on a VCR (Lance learned that that’s a muggle device that allows them to watch and rewatch things on their televisions). Hunk disappears from the bed and he sees Colleen holt moving from bed to bed in quick motion. Occasionally a student comes in and a professor, but nothing of major interest to him. Luckily once time stops, no one is in the hospital wing. “Okay, where were we at this time today?”

Lance turns and looks at the clock in the room which reads 6:43 PM. “I think we were on our way to Slav’s.”

“Oh! That second life Shiro was talking about must be Buckbeak!” Pidge exclaims. “Krolia’s is the first of course. Come on!” She leads them out of the hospital wing and down towards the hill to get to Slav’s hut. They watch as their past selves enter Slav’s cabin before hurrying down to hide in the pumpkin patch next to Slav’s hut. Buckbeak makes no movement when he sees them coming.

Lance starts to make his way to Buckbeak’s chain, but Keith grabs his arm to stop him. “No, the executioners have to see Buckbeak first otherwise they’ll think Slav set him free.”

They wait for another ten minutes or so until they see Shiro walking over with Iverson and the executioner who his holding a very large axe. Lance furrows his eyebrows and turns back into the hut where their past selves are. “Why aren’t we moving?”

Keith stands up and chucks a rock into the window. He ducks back down when he hears something smash and Lance swats him lightly. “Dude!” Lance exclaims. “The hell?!”

Keith ignores him, standing up again to throw another rock, this time nailing past Lance in the back of the head. “Ow,” Lance mutters to himself, rubbing his head as past Lance does too. “That hurt!”

“Sorry,” Keith whispers, clearly unapologetically.

Finally, their past selves get a move on and exit through the back of the hut under the cloak as Slav lets Shiro, Iverson, and the executioner inside. Lance, Keith, and Pidge wait until they see Hunk move out from underneath the cloak to get Buckbeak out of there. Lance and Keith bow to Buckbeak and he bows in return, allowing them to grab his chain while Pidge lures him into the forest with a raw piece of meat.

Once safely in the forest, they hear Slav’s hut door open again and someone yell in happiness. “He is gone!” Slav exclaims. “How did this happen?”

Iverson rubs his forehead as the executioner throws his axe down on the ground in frustration, having lost the victim. “Well, it couldn’t have been Slav. He was with us the whole time! I see no harm done…the animal is gone and won’t do any damage to a student again.”

“I guess you’re right,” Iverson says. “I just don’t understand how.”

Shiro pats him on the shoulder. “I’ll go make some tea.”

Keith, Lance, and Pidge high five each other and lead Buckbeak deeper into the forest where they see their past selves chasing Hunk down the Whomping Willow. Past Keith, Lance, and Pidge eventually get inside the hole in the tree after a small little battle. Current Lance, Keith, and Pidge rest a bit nearby and wait until their past selves come out again.

A little while later, they see Thace walking down towards the tree. He waves his wand to calm the branches then picks up the invisibility cloak Lance dropped. Thace examines it a moment and puts it on, disappearing as he enters the hole in the tree. “We should’ve went out and grabbed it before he came,” Lance whispers.

“Oh well, we have more important things to do,” Pidge says. “We’ll come out soon then we have to hide from the werewolf before going to the astronomy tower to get Krolia”

The three of them wait another ten minutes or so until they see them exit the Whomping Willow. Lotor transforms into a werewolf again and he and Krolia begin fighting each other, coming closer to where they’re hidden. “Pidge, get Buckbeak back to Slav’s. They should be gone by now,” Lance orders.

“Where are you gonna be?” Pidge wonders.

“We’re gonna see who conjured the Patronus,” Lance replies. They follow where Krolia chased Narti off to and see Dementors beginning to surround her. Past Keith, Pidge, and Lance arrive and attempt to ward off the Dementors, but to no avail. Lance looks around for who could have conjured the Patronus, but sees no one else. His eyes widen in realization…it was one of them. “Keith, we-”

Keith steps forward with his wand pointed out. “EXPECTO PATRONUM!” he yells, A blinding white light emerges from his wand and a large puma springs out from the tip, taking off towards the Dementors. It skids to a stop on top of the water of the pond and roars loudly, scaring away the Dementors. A mighty wind comes from the mouth, sending the Dementors flying away. Once they scramble around the area, the puma sprints around the pond and around the unconscious bodies at the other end of the pond to make sure the Dementors stay away. Once all of them are gone, it runs back to Keith. The puma rubs its head against Keith’s leg before disappearing in a puff of light.

Keith takes a shuddering breath and turns to Lance. “It was me. I did it.”

Lance laughs, tears spilling down his cheeks as he pulls Keith in for a tight hug. “Of course it was you,” Lance whispers, hugging Keith tightly. “Who else would have a puma Patronus?” He releases Keith and smiles at him again.

“Shut up! Come on, we gotta get back to Pidge,” Keith says, grabbing Lance’s hand. They run back to where Pidge is hiding and all three of them mount Buckbeak and fly him over to the astronomy tower where Thace said Krolia was being held. “Mom!”

Krolia lifts her head up and gasps when she sees them on Buckbeak. “What’s this?”

“We’re saving your life!” Keith exclaims, aiming his wand at the lock on the window. “Alohomora!” The window flies open and Keith extends his arm to help Krolia onto Buckbeak. The four of them fly onto the ground away from the castle to send Krolia and Buckbeak on their way.

Before Krolia gets back on Buckbeak, Keith suddenly hugs her tightly. “I don’t want you to go!” Lance bites his lip when he sees tears running down Keith’s cheeks.

Krolia kneels down in front of him and cups Keith’s cheek in her hand, wiping the tears away with her thumbs. “Keith, this isn’t goodbye. I left you once…I’ll never leave you again.” She kisses his forehead. “I’ll always be with you, okay? I love you.”

Keith sniffles and nods. “I love you too.”

Krolia and Keith hug once more then she mounts Buckbeak and flies away with him. Lance places a hand on Keith’s shoulder as he watches them disappear into the sky. “You good?”

Keith nods, wiping his cheek. “Yeah…I’ll be fine.”

“Keith, I don’t wanna sound insensitive, but we gotta get back up to the hospital wing. Time’s almost up,” Pidge urges.

“No, you’re right,” Keith says. “Let’s go.” The three of them run up to the hospital wing just as Shiro exits. Their eyes widen in shock when they see him. “Sir, we did it. They’re free.”

Shiro tilts his head curiously at them. “What are you talking about?” He smiles at them. “Have a good night!” He descends down the stairs and disappears.

Keith, Lance, and Pidge exchange confused expressions before walking into the hospital wing just in time to see themselves disappear. Hunk points at their old selves and then at his friends by the door. “You were here and now you’re there!” he exclaims.

“I’ll explain later,” Pidge says, leading Lance and Keith over to him.

Suddenly Thace bursts into the room quickly followed by Iverson, Allura, and Shiro once again. “Krolia escaped!” He points a finger at Keith. “You did this! You set her free!”

“They’ve been in here the whole time!” Hunk exclaims. “What are you talking about?!”

Iverson crosses his arms. “I don’t think I’ll be needing to make that call to the Ministry about that award.”

Shiro grabs Thace’s arm and leads him out of the hospital wing. Allura turns to Iverson. “Does this mean you will remove the Dementors from the school grounds?”

Iverson nods. “Yes! I will do that straight away!”

Lance and Keith exchange a smile, feeling amazing after what they just accomplished.

 

* * *

 

The next day is calm until Slav informs Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk that Buckbeak escaped and that Lotor has resigned from the school. Naturally, the four of them quickly go investigate this information and find Lotor packing up his office. Lance opens his mouth to say something, but Lotor beats him to it.

“Lance, Keith, Pidge, Hunk…can’t say I’m surprised to see you four here,” he says, turning around to look at them. Lance winces when he sees the cuts on his face from when he and Krolia fought each other as animals. Lotor’s left arm is bandaged, a little bit of blood seeping through, tightly from where she clawed him which ultimately sent him cowering away into the forest. His normally flowing and luscious white hair is now tangled and pulled back away from his face. He also has prominent bags under his eyes, probably from not getting any sleep last night.

“Sir, how did you know it was us?” Pidge asks.

Lotor holds up the Paladin’s Map. “This comes in handy sometimes.” He smiles at them.

“Why are you resigning? You’re an amazing professor!” Keith exclaims.

Lotor chuckles. “After last night’s events, I really shouldn’t be around students during my transformations. If Krolia hadn’t been there to ward me off, who knows what I would’ve done to you all.” He points his wand at the Paladin’s Map. “Mischief managed.” The map folds in on itself to appear as an ordinary piece of parchment. He holds it out to Keith. “Now that I’m not a professor anymore, I don’t feel any guilt in giving this back to you.”

Keith takes it from him and smiles widely. “Thank you.”

Lotor nods. “Use it wisely. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish packing. I assure you we’ll all meet again in due time.”

Lance grabs Keith’s arm and pauses at the door. “Wait a second.” He turns around. “Lotor? Just one more thing.”

“Yes?” Lotor wonders, looking at Lance and Keith.

“That girl Thace was talking about…was that just a jab at you because of what Krolia said?” Lance wonders.

Lotor bites his lip and looks at the ground. “Yes and no…”

“What are you talking about?” Keith asks. “Thace said she was still here, but that made no sense to me. There’s no possible way she could still be a student here.”

Lotor chuckles. “Well, you’re right with that observation.”

“Then what else-” Keith’s eyes widen in realization. “Oh.”

Lance smiles, knowing exactly who Lotor is talking about. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure it’s mutual.”

Lotor cheeks flush up slightly and he goes back to packing. “Whatever you say, Lance. I’ll see you guys soon.”

Lance and Keith wave goodbye to Lotor and exit his office, accidentally running into Shiro. “Oh! I was actually just looking for you two,” Shiro says, brushing his robe off. “You made the right choice in setting Narti free. It may not feel like it right now, but you did.”

“Do you know when it’ll feel better? Because I still feel like crap,” Lance comments, crossing his arms.

Shiro chuckles. “In time, Lance. It won’t go away overnight.”

Keith furrows his eyebrows. “I have some questions for you, Shiro. First, why is my Patronus the same as my mom’s Animagus shape?”

“It’s not a coincidence, that’s for sure,” Shiro says. “I think it’s because you share a special bond with her…despite not knowing the truth.”

“Hmm, I’m glad you mentioned that because why?!” Keith yells. “Why did you lie to me?! My mother was alive this whole time and you said she was dead!”

Shiro sighs. “Keith, I didn’t lie. It’s true that your parents’ bodies couldn’t be found. I only found out last year that your mother was in Beta Traz because of what she did to her husband, Lance’s mom, and all those other people. I didn’t think you needed to know that your mom was the one responsible for Rosa McClain’s death. Lance didn’t need to know either.”

“She was innocent the whole time,” Keith says. “You had no right to keep that from us.”

“I realize now it was a mistake. I’m sorry Keith, but I did it for your own protection,” Shiro says. “Please try to understand that.”

“I get that you couldn’t adopt me because my mom was alive, but why wasn’t I sent to my godparents or someone else?! Why a muggle foster home?!” Keith demands.

“Keith, I told you I didn’t find this stuff out until last year. There were a lot of things Alfor didn’t tell me when I took this job,” Shiro explains. “Alfor taught your parents and their friends all throughout their years at Hogwarts and up until Lance’s mother was killed. He went missing after that and we still have no clue what happened. Everyone was in a frantic because there was no Headmaster. Coran stepped in to serve temporarily, but he couldn’t do the position forever. Finally, the Ministry discovered a note Alfor left behind that had weird directions on it. The only thing they understood was that he wanted me as his successor and that I had to watch over the raven-haired boy until all was revealed.”

“Meaning my mother?” Keith wonders.

Shiro nods. “Yes. We discovered that last year, but I made sure the word didn’t get out because I didn’t think you should know about it. I didn’t put you with your godparents because, well, your godmother was dead and your godfather was still under the impression your mother killed his wife. Then word got out that Krolia escaped, but, luckily, she used her maiden name so she couldn’t be traced back to you unless people knew who she really was,” Shiro continues.

“That doesn’t answer the question of why you didn’t take me in just so I could live somewhere with magic,” Keith says.

“You didn’t know anything about magic and I had to keep it that way. You were safer not knowing the truth, but once your eleventh birthday came along, I knew I should’ve done something.” Shiro looks at the ground, ashamed. “I acted selfishly because I couldn’t deal with the pressure and I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

Keith ignores Shiro’s apology, but Lance doesn’t blame him. He did make a selfish move and withhold what Keith had a right to know. “My mom said I was a Halfblood. Do you know anything about my father?”

Shiro looks up. “Um, no actually. He was a muggleborn, but that’s it. You’ll have to ask your mom about him.” He places a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “This is a lot to take in at once, but will you be okay?”

Keith frowns and looks away. “I don’t know right now. I need time to think about it.” He shrugs Shiro’s hand off and starts walking back towards the Slytherin common room.

Shiro sends Lance off as well to go pack before they board the train back to London. Lance heads up the stairs in the Gryffindor tower and packs up all of his things, chatting with Paul and the other boys in his dorm before they all head downstairs with the other students to ride back to the train station.

Once there, Lance meets up with Pidge, Hunk, and Keith and they find a compartment to sit in. Red immediately jumps from Keith’s arms into Lance’s lap, much to Keith’s dismay.

“Guys, I think I’m gonna drop my course load back to normal, next year” Pidge shares. “It’s too difficult to keep changing the Time Turner.”

“Good idea, Pidge,” Keith says with a nod. He looks out the window. “Ugh, I don’t wanna go back to that stupid orphanage! I’m not even an orphan so why do I have to go back there?!”

“You know what? You should just come back with my family and me,” Lance says. “I mean you’ll probably end up there anyway so why not now?”

Keith turns and looks at him with wide eyes. “Really? Lance, that would be-”

Suddenly a small, cinnamon-colored owl bumps its head against Keith’s window. He opens it and the owl lands on his lap, holding a letter. Keith opens it and Lance looks over his shoulder to read it.

 

_ Dear Keith, _

_ I hope no one intercepts this owl because that would be most unfortunate. Anyway, I assure you that Buckbeak and I are safe and hidden away. Don’t come looking for us because that will just create more trouble. _

 

_ Firstly, you should know that I am the one who sent you the Firebolt. I heard what happened to your old broom and it broke my heart. Back when I played Quidditch for Hogwarts, I know I was very upset when my broom broke so I wanted to get you a new one. I sent Red to get it and used your name to get money out of the vault Seth and I agreed to let you have access to if anything were to happen to us. _

 

_ Secondly, tell your friend Hunk that he is welcome to keep this owl as a replacement for his lost ferret. I assure him that Francis (that’s the owl’s name) will be a better companion than Narti - Sunshine - ever was. _

 

_ Thirdly, I have already made contact with Shiro and forbade him from sending you back to that wretched orphanage. I was not happy when I found out that’s where you were staying. Seth and I made it clear in our will that if anything happened to us you were to go straight to Luis’s and Rosa’s, but considering the circumstances I can understand why he did what he did. Though, I am still not happy about it. Luis has already given his consent and knows I am not the one who had his wife murdered. _

 

_ Love your mom, _

_ Krolia Kogane _

 

_ P.S. Attached is a signed Hogsmeade permission slip Shiro sent for me to sign. Now you don’t have to sneak around with Rosa’s invisibility cloak and the Paladin’s Map _

 

_ And yes, I do know all about that _

 

Keith chuckles while he reads the rest of the letter then turns to Lance with a big smile on his face. “Did you read it?” he asks.

“Yeah! You get to come live with me until your mom’s name is cleared!” Lance exclaims happily.

Keith nods then turns to Hunk. “Also, you were mentioned. This owl is yours to keep.” He gently lifts up the owl in his hands and hands him to Hunk. “His name is Francis.” Keith hands him the letter so he can read it for himself.

Soon enough the train comes to a stop and everyone gets off the train. Lance and Keith wave goodbye to Pidge and Hunk before making their way over to where Isa and Patrick are waiting with Lucy, Hannah, and Marco. They smile when they see Keith with Lance.

Lance takes a deep breath and exchanges a wide smile with Keith. He anticipates an even better summer than the last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna take a moment to thank everyone who has stuck with this story for this long. I promise it only gets better from here. I know we're only 3 books in, but we've only got 4 more of this until it's over. Harry Potter was and still is one of my favorite series ever and I'm so happy I could turn it into something people could enjoy. I can't wait for all of you to see what I've got in store for the next book :)
> 
> PS: I am not responsible for any tears you may encounter when you saw the drawing of Lotor - I didn't ask for it either lol
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Please be kind in the comment section. The artist and I work very hard on this.  
> Writer's Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)  
> Artist's Tumblr: [burtburt0614](http://burtburt0614.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my other series [here](http://archiveofourown.org/series/736509) and my Voltron Cop AU [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12734550/chapters/29038824)!


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